Manchester United saw out an emphatic 2-1 victory at Old Trafford to see off their noisy neighbours Manchester City in a heated derby clash.
Both sides went into the match in fine Premier League form and the three points were crucial to their top four and title hopes.
Jack Grealish opened the scoring in the 60th minute of the match after replacing City’s academy graduate Phil Foden.
Bruno Fernandes then found the back of the net in the 78th minute but the goal was initially ruled out due to Marcus Rashford’s offside position in the buildup.
The decision was consequently met with Fernandes and his teammates hounding the on-field officials as Rashford had not actually touched the ball, meaning his positioning had no impact on the outcome of the attack.
After further examination by the VAR team, the goal stood.
Four minutes later, 18-year-old Alejandro Garnacho assisted Wythenshawe-born Rashford to give the Red Devils the lead in the 82nd minute. It was the England international’s 16th goal of the season.
Fernandes weighs in on an important victory
Post-match, Fernandes spoke to BT Sport about his equaliser, saying: “I think because I was facing the goal, Marcus thought I was in a better position,” he said of Rashford’s decision to leave the ball.
”I didn’t know if any of us were offside or not, but it didn’t make a difference because no one was close to him, so the team [City] has to defend. The only one close was one close to me.
”Honestly, it’s always important to win the game. As the manager said before the game. It doesn’t matter who the opponent is, what matters is winning and we did it. It was an amazing comeback, a great effort from the team.
“I said it before the game to the team: ‘we look like a team now’. Some time ago, sometimes you saw a team, sometimes we looked a bit for ourselves. Now you see a team that works hard for each other. You see that it pays.”
Footage courtesy of BT Sport.