Bruno Fernandes gave his immediate reaction to Manchester United’s hard-fought win over Newport County yesterday evening.
The captain opened the scoring in just the seventh minute at Rodney Parade to give the Red Devils a much-needed confidence boost with an early lead. When Kobbie Mainoo registered his first-ever senior goal to make it 2-0 just six minutes later, United looked as though they had a firm grip on the tie.
However, in true United fashion, the tide turned shortly before the half-time whistle and the Exiles were able to snatch one back through a sensational strike by Bryn Morris, which deflected slightly off of Lisandro Martinez to make it an unsavable one for Altay Bayindir.
Will Evans then levelled the scoring in the 47th minute, sending the locals into hysterics with the prospect of knocking out the 20-time champions. Much to Erik ten Hag’s delight, Antony and Rasmus Hojlund’s contributions spared his blushes by restoring United’s winning margin in the closing stages of the clash.
Fernandes laments United’s wasted chances
Speaking to BBC Sport post-match (as cited by ManUtd.com), Fernandes expressed: “It was not the perfect result for us, we didn’t want to concede goals.
“Obviously, the first one, it’s a great goal for them, and it’s an unbelievable shot. After, we have to bring our focus in the second half, we can’t concede another goal and let them have some belief; we have to kill the game straight away, in the first half.
“We had chances to make it 3-0 but, when you get to 2-0 in these kinds of games, everyone wants to try to score, get their goal and everything, and sometimes you don’t get the best decision for the team. We didn’t. They got to 2-1, obviously, [with] a bit of belief, second half, they start and they get a goal, but I think, after, we did a great job to close the game.”
He continued: “Of course, we have to understand that our chance to win a trophy this season is in the FA Cup. We have to give everything to get into the final – step by step, game by game. But we know that to make the season look not as bad as it’s been, we have to try to win this trophy, because it’s important for us.
“We’ve been in the final last year, unfortunately we didn’t get the trophy. We know how much it means, the FA Cup, for our fans, for our club, for the country. We know how important it is and it’s important for us too because we want to get in the final again and win.”
