Bruno Fernandes has warned his Manchester United teammates that “one win doesn’t win the league” after beating Southampton 1-0 at St. Mary’s.
The Portuguese’s second-half strike was the difference between the two sides as United stopped a run of seven successive away defeats. It also ensured that Monday night’s feelgood victory over Liverpool wasn’t wasted just days later.
United were made to scrap for their second positive result of the season, with Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side well drilled and adventurous in possession. Fernandes should have given the visitors the lead in the opening 45 minutes, only to see his skewed effort result in a goalmouth scramble which was somehow kept out of the net.
But he made no mistake after the break, finishing off a crisp United move which saw Diogo Dalot’s smart cut-back fired into the bottom corner. That was Fernandes’ 37th in the Premier League since his Premier League debut in January 2020 - a tally only bettered by Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min.
It’s the first time the Red devils have earned back-to-back wins since February, temporarily moving them up to the dizzying heights of sixth in the table. But the skipper on the day reminded his colleagues there is still a long way to go.
“One win doesn’t win the league, two wins doesn’t win the league so we have to carry on the spirit, the sacrifice that we did the last two games,” Fernandes told BT Sport. “We have to carry on for the rest of the season, this is what the club demands, all the players know that.
“After Liverpool everyone could feel it, we said before the game we set the standard we have to carry on now. We knew playing against Southampton away isn’t easy.
“We did a great game, we know sometimes you have to suffer, this is the Premier League, every game is tough. So well done for us, good job, massive three points for us now we have to carry on.”
On finally winning on the road, he added: “We did last season or season before 21 games without losing away from home. Sometimes this happens, we won, we’re happy, it doesn’t matter whether it’s away or at home we want to win every game - that’s what it’s about for this club.”
Meanwhile, Hasenhuttl was full of praise for his players, but was left bemoaning a host of missed chances, particularly in the latter stages of the contest. “I'm very proud of what the guys did today.
“They did a really good job from the first minute. We had good moments and chances, we really stretched them. We deserved more but sometimes football is like this.
“We had very good moments and a lot of good chances in the box. They had two shots on target in the second half. I felt we were always dangerous. Every set piece was dangerous and we were really stretching them, but the ball didn’t want to go in. I’m not scared with this team because they really fight for our targets and this is good to see.”
