Pereira Determined To Impress Mourinho

Andreas Pereira produced a timely reminder of his attacking abilities when he fired in the stunning second goal of Saturday’s pre-season win for Manchester United at Wigan Athletic.

When a scuffed shot from his midfield partner Ander Herrera came back off a defender, the 20-year-old showed lightning-quick reactions to flash a thunderbolt into the top left-hand corner. Pereira’s effort sealed a comfortable 2-0 victory for United, who had new manager Jose Mourinho patrolling the technical area and watching every move by all of his 22 players who featured in the friendly.

“Andreas has lots of talent - he has incredible vision and an incredible technique,” the impressed Reds boss told MUTV after the match.

“I'm very happy that I scored in this game, and yeah, it was not a bad strike at all,” said Pereira in a separate interview, agreeing with a goal description from MUTV reporter Stewart Gardner.

The Belgian-born prospect came on for Michael Carrick in one of seven planned changes made by Mourinho at half-time and revelled in his central-midfield work between the defence and the front four. “I can play in other positions but I enjoyed that role a lot,” he commented.

“I think it was very important for me to get some minutes and show the manager and show the team that I can help them. I am very happy that I could help.”

Pereira made his first-team debut just under two years ago on a night to forget for United – the humbling 4-0 defeat at MK Dons in the Capital One Cup. He’s one of only four players involved in that August 2014 game who are still at the club, along with goalkeeper David De Gea and his fellow substitutes Adnan Januzaj and James Wilson.

While the latter pair spent large parts of last season out on loan, Pereira remained with the Reds for a second season under Louis van Gaal; he made two starts and nine substitute appearances and, this time on a happier evening in the Capital One Cup, scored his first senior goal for United with an exquisite free-kick against Ipswich Town.

However, the Brazil Under-20 international was overlooked towards the end of the campaign and his last outing was a handful of minutes at the end of the Midtjylland match in February when Marcus Rashford, two years his junior, made a stunning debut. After three competitive months without a game, Pereira is understandably determined to get back in the first-team frame and sees an opportunity with the change of management from van Gaal to Jose Mourinho.

“It's very important for me,” Andreas reiterated. “I want to show the manager, to show the people around the club, to show the players that I can help this season. It's very important for me. I want to show this in training and just keep working hard.”