Fernandes Credits Anxious Liverpool Crowd For United’s First Anfield Win Since 2016

• Bruno Fernandes said Liverpool’s anxious fans helped Manchester United secure a 2-1 victory at Anfield.
• Harry Maguire’s late header sealed United’s first league win at Liverpool since 2016.
• Ruben Amorim praised his team’s spirit but said it is too early to talk about Champions League qualification.

Bruno Fernandes said Manchester United’s first win at Anfield in nearly a decade was influenced by Liverpool fans showing frustration toward their own team during the first half.

Harry Maguire’s 84th-minute header clinched a 2-1 victory after Cody Gakpo had cancelled out Bryan Mbeumo’s early opener. The result marked United manager Ruben Amorim’s first back-to-back league wins since taking over from Erik ten Hag last November and condemned Liverpool to a fourth consecutive defeat in all competitions.

“In the first 10 minutes we knew they [Liverpool] would try to start the game very strong,” Fernandes told Sky Sports. “Also in the first half, we understood that they were under pressure when they had time on the ball, the fans were putting them in a difficult position and booing for them to play quicker.

“We wanted to slow their game and we knew that would give massive spaces around the middle. In the second half we could have played a little bit more on the ball.

“We know what it means for the fans and the club to play these rivalries. We wanted to do it because it is a long time since the club won at Anfield. It is very important, so I am very happy to do it today.”

United had not won consecutive league matches in the same season since the end of the 2023-24 campaign. Maguire admitted the statistic was embarrassing but said the team must now build momentum.

“It’s embarrassing really,” Maguire said. “It’s not a stat that we should even be speaking about, because it is an embarrassing stat to have. Now that’s out of the way, let’s try and make it three on Saturday against Brighton, because we have to start putting a bit more consistency together.

“The last three or four years we’d put in a performance like this and the following game we come down again. We have set a benchmark. There are a lot of areas we can do more, we were hanging on there and defending for the last 30 minutes or so.

“We’ll analyse it. The manager strives for perfection, so I’m sure he will want us to play better than we did in the second half. Great fight, big spirit, big win, but we have to go again.”

The win lifted United to within two points of fourth-placed Liverpool, but Amorim insisted it was too soon to label his team Champions League contenders.

“I want you guys to continue with the narrative that you are so I will not increase the goal,” Amorim told reporters. “What we need to do is try to win three games in a row and then forget about top four or top six.

“We already said we want to go to Europe. This doesn’t change nothing, we are the same team we were 90 minutes ago. I have no idea if we show the spirit we show every day, but I think we are going to win so many games. For that, we need to show action.

“But of course it is really important to win. I don’t have many wins in Manchester. It is really important back-to-back and every detail of this game, the spirit when we suffer a bad moment or control, all the small things, was perfect. Let’s try to do that next week.

“It is really important for our fans. They struggled against Grimsby and Brentford, but today they saw a different team.”