Nani Hails Unity

Nani says United’s best start to a season for 26 years is down to the unity within the squad.

It’s the first time since 1985/86 the Reds have won the first five games of a league campaign (that side won its first 10 league matches) and Nani says confidence is sky-high.

“The whole team has been working hard,” he said. “We’re all together and it gives us confidence for the games. We’re a compact team and we’ve been playing some fantastic football – one and two-touch football- and we’re scoring a lot of goals.”

The Reds found the net three times on Sunday against Chelsea, with Nani scoring the pick of the bunch. He jinked inside off the right wing before beating a man and unleashing an unstoppable shot that rocketed into the top corner.

Afterwards, Nani admitted it was a “beautiful” goal but shied away from declaring it his best in a United shirt.

“I’ve scored a couple of beautiful goals but I’d have to see the others to compare,” he said. “It was a nice goal, though.”

Nani’s strike on 37 minutes put United 2-0 ahead in a game that featured plenty of goalmouth action. Chelsea played their part in the entertainment, too, and on other day could have beaten the Reds with a similar performance.

“Everybody saw a game with lots of opportunities for both sides,” Nani said. “Chelsea had a lot of chances to score as well but I think our performance was better than theirs and that’s why we scored three goals. We had a lot of confidence and our football was better. I think we deserved the win.”

The Portuguese left Old Trafford with a bottle of champagne courtesy of host broadcaster Sky Sports, who named him Man of the Match. It was an assessment that raised no eyebrows from Sir Alex.

“Nani's marvellous, he was brilliant today," Sir Alex said. "Absolutely brilliant. He's a terrific player, the lad, and he's starting to mature. We're going to get the best years out of him, no doubt."

Nani and Sir Alex were speaking to MUTV and Sky Sports.