Michael Carrick appreciated Manchester United's skipper Bruno Fernandes for his role during their 2-0 win against derby rivals Manchester City on Saturday.
Bruno Fernandes's masterclass against Manchester City
Fernandes dropped a masterclass performance and guided Manchester United to the win. The 31-year-old was deployed in a significantly advanced position in Carrick's 4-2-3-1 setup and produced a wonderful assist for Bryan Mbeumo for United's opener.
Interacting after the game, Carrick explained the Portuguese midfielder's performance as 'fantastic' and noted the defensive cover he gave along with Mbeumo.
“Obviously I’ve spoken to Bruno, and I’ve known him a long time now. I thought again he was fantastic today,” he said. “The way he played the position, he’s so clever, and he takes up spaces. He had a big disciplined role, him and Bryan [Mbeumo] too defensively as well to protect the team from anything coming through the middle as much as possible. It wasn’t all kind of playing and positivity to that point but he’s just got so much quality. He can adapt, and playing in that position, he’s a real threat and he made the difference.”
Bruno Fernandes' red hot form
Earlier this month, Fernandes made a comeback from his hamstring injury, playing limited minutes against Burnley and featuring in subsequent games. Since coming back to the pitch, Fernandes has provided at least an assist in each of the three games he has played.
So far this season, he has amassed five goals and 10 assists in 21 games across all competitions. He also tops the assist chart in the league, with nine to his name.
Michael Carrick stays same after Manchester United's derby win
Michael Carrick is declining to get 'carried away' after securing his first win as Manchester United's new interim manager. Speaking after the game, the former Red Devils midfielder called the win 'special' but insisted that it should not be a one-off thing.
“It was a very special day but I'm not getting carried away,” he said. “It's one game and it's really important we don't get carried away. It needs to be a regular feeling, that level of performance needs to be consistently what we're getting. It's a fantastic result and there is an element of soaking it up and enjoying it but it's definitely not enough and never enough. If you look at the result, we had three days to work on it and we've got to keep building on that.”
Manchester United sit fifth in the Premier League table and will face leaders Arsenal in their next game.