Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes hailed his teammates' defensive efforts following Sunday's 1-0 win over Aston Villa at Old Trafford.
The Portugal international scored the only goal of the game after 39 minutes to seal a fourth Premier League win in five matches for Erik ten Hag's side. Fernandes capitalised on Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez parrying Marcus Rashford's low drive into his path, presenting him with the easy task of tucking away his 100th career league goal.
Although it was Fernandes' match-winning contribution that sealed all three points for the Reds, they had to withstand some Villa pressure towards the end of the contest, as the visitors went in search of an equaliser. However, United held on to secure a 15th Premier League clean sheet of the season.
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And it was that defensive robustness and desire to keep the ball out of the back of the net that Fernandes hailed in his post-match interview. He waxed lyrical about each member of United's starting back-four, as well as goalkeeper David de Gea, midfield enforcer Casemiro and substitute Harry Maguire.
"We know that we have people missing [through injury]," Fernandes told MUTV. "H [Harry Maguire] was not in his best condition and he came to help us at the end, coming on in the last few minutes to help the team.
"He has not been in the best form or fit enough to play. I thought Victor [Lindelof] was outstanding today and was one of the best on the pitch, him and Casemiro.
"They were two of the best in the team. But I thought Diogo [Dalot] was incredible. Luke [Shaw], playing out of position again, was unbelievable.
"Tyrell [Malacia] was really good and for David, as always, we are really happy to keep clean sheets for him because we know how important it is for 'keepers. Obviously the rest of the team did a really good performance.
"We could have got a few more goals, but they are tough team to play against; they are well-organised, have good patterns and it is never easy."
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