MAGUIRE PRAISES FERNANDES AFTER 2-0 WIN AT CHELSEA

Harry Maguire has praised Bruno Fernandes after the January signing assisted his first headed goal for Manchester United, during Monday night’s 2-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Anthony Martial opened the scoring with an excellent header before Maguire doubled the advantage with a similar finish, rising highest to nod his second goal for the club after an award-winning strike at Tranmere Rovers earlier this year.

The Premier League victory could prove to be invaluable this season and, speaking after the final whistle, captain Maguire was delighted by the performance and his maiden header as a Red.

“It’s been a long time,” laughed Harry. “Obviously I got my first goal against Tranmere with my feet but I’ve missed a lot of chances this year and I knew it was a matter of time before I scored one.

“Obviously, Bruno helped with a nice delivery and hopefully there will be more to come between now and the end of the season. You can see what Bruno makes, the quality on the ball that he brings, his technical ability and he’s a presence as well. He demands things off players, he’s a leader and he’s nice to have around the dressing room so long may that continue.”

Aside from his match-winning goal, Maguire was involved in another high-profile incident at Stamford Bridge after colliding with Chelsea forward Michy Batshuayi on the touchline during a lively first half.

It was suggested on television that Harry might have received a red card for the coming together, but our talismanic no.5 was clear in his reaction when discussing it afterwards on Sky Sports.

“I felt like at the time I knew I’d caught him,” admitted Harry. “But I felt like he was going to fall on me, so my natural reaction was to push my leg out to try and hold him up. Obviously because I’ve got studs on it probably looks worse on TV, but it was my natural reaction, it wasn’t a kick-out, there wasn’t intent or anything like that. It was just my natural reaction to straighten my leg. I knew I did catch him and I knew at the time, but I think it’s the right decision in the end.”

Monday night’s victory over Chelsea has provided a major boost in United’s mission to earn Champions League qualification for next season.

Yet Maguire is not getting carried away and he is adamant that the Reds must become more consistent throughout the campaign’s run-in.

“We knew coming into the game tonight that we had to get the three points to close the gap,” said Harry. “It was a solid performance.

“This season we’ve been far too inconsistent. You’ve seen we’ve won at Manchester City, beat Chelsea at home, got a point against Liverpool, but we’ve let ourselves down against the teams where the pressure is on to go and break them down.

“So next Sunday we’ve got Watford at home. We’re not getting carried away because it’s another massive game, we’ve got to treat it how we treated the game tonight and go out and get three points.”