-Credit:MUTV.
Bruno Fernandes has challenged his Manchester United teammates to continue to reach the standard they set in the win over Arsenal.
United progressed to the fourth round of the competition after a 5-3 victory over the Gunners on penalties. Joshua Zirkzee converted the decisive spot kick after goalkeeper Altay Bayindir had earlier denied Kai Havertz.
The contest had finished 1-1 after 120 minutes, with Gabriel cancelling out Fernandes’ opener with 63 minutes played. Between the two goals, and just two minutes before Gabriel’s equaliser, United were reduced to 10 men when Diogo Dalot was sent-off for a second bookable offence.
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Bayindir denied Martin Odegaard from the penalty spot nine minutes after the Gunners had dragged themselves level, producing a brilliant save down to his left. United then continued to defend heroically, with the likes of Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt superb at the back.
Having performed so well against Liverpool at Anfield seven days earlier, United’s last two performances suggest they have turned a corner under head coach Ruben Amorim. But Fernandes is refusing to get carried away, shifting the focus to Thursday’s clash with Southampton at Old Trafford.
“It doesn’t have to do anything, to be honest,” Fernandes told MUTV when asked what the victory should do for the squad. “What you have to understand is that in certain moments we will suffer.
“If we suffer together, do it as a team, if we really believe in each other, we can go through difficult things, as was today. But now the difficult part for us is that we have to understand that we have to do this week in, week out.”
Fernandes revealed what Amorim told his players after the win over Arsenal, adding: “Now, as the manager just said, it’s not week in, week out; in just three days we have to do it again. We are going to play Southampton, who are last in the league.
“Everyone is really tired but you cannot find excuses or whatever. We have to take that away from us and have to understand that we have set a standard and we have to keep this standard higher, not lower.”