Herrera: Derby Display Was One Of Our Best

Ander Herrera described Manchester United's Emirates FA Cup third-round win over Derby County as "one of our best games this season".

The Reds saw off the Championship side 2-0 at Old Trafford on Friday night thanks to a stunning strike from Jesse Lingard and a late goal from substitute Romelu Lukaku.

Herrera, who caught the eye while playing the full 90 minutes in midfield, felt the team's overall performance was commendable.

The Spaniard told MUTV: “I think we have played one of our best games this season – full of control, good play, good movement of the ball and everyone feeling good on the pitch, participating in the game.

“That is why I couldn’t believe we weren’t winning after 30 minutes. I think football was fair with us, we have scored two in the end but we could have scored six or seven, to be honest.”

The Reds found it tough to grind down Gary Rowett’s side before Lingard broke the deadlock against a team he played for on loan in 2015. Jesse's stunning strike from just outside the box was his 11th goal of the season and it was one which Herrera certainly enjoyed.

“The goal was amazing, the goal was incredible,” Ander said. “He tries always, he moves very well. He has a very good shot with both feet. When you try all the time and you’re optimistic with yourself and you try and try, sooner or later you will get the result. The result was again another fantastic goal.”

Romelu Lukaku returned from injury as a second-half substitute and scored his 16th goal of the campaign late on to seal the victory. Herrera feels the Belgian played well when he came on but credited the whole team for a job well done.

“He played very well,” the no.21 said of Lukaku. “He held the ball up for us, he gave us that target man in the second half, he played amazing. The second goal was incredible, also the assist of Anthony [Martial] was very good.

“I think we cannot say just two or three names today, the whole team played amazingly. We were very good on the pitch, moving the ball, everyone receiving the ball – running, shooting, crossing. I think we did everything good. Of course you always have things to improve on but almost everything was good.”

After getting past Derby, the Reds can now look towards Monday evening's fourth-round draw. When asked if the ideal scenario would be another home tie, Herrera said: “You never know. When we won the FA Cup, we drew at home against West Ham and then we beat them away. You can also have problems against a Championship team at home – that’s the magic of the cup.”