Herrera Reacts To Goal At Northampton

Ander Herrera admits he tempered his emotions while celebrating his goal in the 3-1 win at Northampton - having previously been booked for joining the travelling Reds supporters.

The Spaniard has often been praised for his passionate behaviour on the pitch during his time at the club but that has occasionally led to yellow cards, usually for going into the crowd after scoring. One example of that can be traced back to his goal in the FA Cup win at Yeovil Town in January 2015.

Herrera’s super strike at Sixfields Stadium on Wednesday prompted another excellent knee-slide from the 27-year-old, although he joked during his MUTV interview that he is now trying to avoid bookings.

“I have to control myself a little bit more because the last time I got a yellow card and another time I got a yellow card as well, so this time I stayed a little bit calmer,” Ander explained with a smile, when quizzed on his celebrations with the fans. “But I cannot lie, I love to score in front of them!”

Herrera’s goal arrived shortly after he had struck the post with a similarly drive effort from range and the former Athletic Club man told Sky Sports that he is looking to improve his scoring tally.

“I know my role and I know I am a midfielder, but when you want to make steps in your development then you have to score goals,” Ander pointed out. “I tried to do that and I shot before but the post didn’t allow me to score. Finally I scored and I am happy, but overall after a terrible week we got the victory and now we can face Leicester in a better way.”

As Herrera stated, United return to Premier League action against Claudio Raneiri’s Foxes on Saturday and the Reds can tackle that challenge with renewed confidence after a positive result.

“We had a terrible week and we want to be positive,” Herrera said, referencing the consecutive defeats against Manchester City, Feyenoord and Watford. “Now we have to face Leicester at home and after this victory we feel good.

“We are more positive and more optimistic. We want to be at the top of the table and we have to win; we are Man United. Of course we are playing against the last Premier League winners, the champions, so we have to respect them but we have to try to win.”