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Manchester United skipper Bruno Fernandes has opened up on his heroic display during the club’s incredible FA Cup win against Liverpool on Sunday.
United ran out 4-3 victors in dramatic fashion. Goals from Scott McTominay and Antony in normal time forced the match to go into extra time.
Harvey Elliott restored Liverpool’s lead but their advantage was soon cancelled out by Marcus Rashford, who got on the end of a pass from McTominay to restore parity.
It looked like both sides would have to settle for a penalty shootout but Amad Diallo had other ideas. The Ivorian steered the ball into the bottom corner to win it for United, who are now through to the semi-final of the competition, where they’ll face Coventry City.
There were plenty of players who stood up to be counted and dug deep to get the win over the line. One was Fernandes, who found himself in all sorts of areas on the pitch.
At one point, the Portuguese playmaker was playing at centre-back, right next to Harry Maguire!
Fernandes covered every blade of grass and gave everything he had. He spoke to TNT Sports’ Fred Caldeira and ESPN Brasil’s Renato Senise and admitted that at one point, he was cramping up and his lungs were pretty much on fire from all the effort he put in.
He said about the position change, “It’s whatever I have to do to help the team win. This… there are no positions. At that moment we had to take risks, we had to play basically man-to-man, which was what the coach asked of us. And he didn’t want me to be so deep at certain moments.”
“But I felt it and H, Maguire, often asked me to drop back to help because obviously there was Gakpo and Darwin, two very fast players, with a lot of speed. And at one point I had to jump into the middle, at others I had to drop a little deeper, because my legs were getting tired, I was cramping up everywhere, and I even took a knock to help out (laughs).”
“But it’s whatever it takes to help the team. Because Antony ended up at left-back, Eriksen was also at 6, McTominay further forward. We were all giving everything we had to win the game.”
Entrevista com Bruno Fernandes após a virada na prorrogação contra o Liverpool. Sobre o barulho em Old Trafford no quarto gol, diz que “gritava e não conseguia ouvir a própria voz”: pic.twitter.com/I9MtjyvRAd
— Fred Caldeira (@fredcaldeira) March 18, 2024
The United midfielder was asked about Amad’s late winner and how it felt to personally witness such an amazing moment.
“To be honest, I was shouting and I couldn’t hear my voice. So you have an idea of what the noise was like for us on the pitch, with the tiredness, with everything. My lungs were on their last legs too… but it was impressive. I think they were excellent with us from start to finish, even when we conceded a goal because the next moment we’d create something and the stadium would rise up again and create the momentum we needed.”
He praised the fans for always supporting the team throughout the season, even under difficult circumstances at times.
Fernandes explained that he understands the supporters’ frustrations and he and his teammates will work hard to ensure they return the favour.
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