Manchester United picked up a strong pre-season friendly victory overnight as Ruben Amorim’s side beat West Ham United 2-1 in New Jersey.
Manchester United drew 0-0 with Leeds United last week, before jetting off to the United States to begin the real pre-season tour.
West Ham United were the opponents at MetLife Stadium, and Red Devils fans were surely encouraged early on.
Rasmus Hojlund showed blazing speed before failing to hit the target, and an early fumble from Hammers goalkeeper Alphonse Areola saw him bring down Ayden Heaven.
Bruno Fernandes stepped up to score from the spot, before the United skipper curled home a beautiful goal in the second half to make it 2-0.
Jarrod Bowen halved United’s lead, but Ruben Amorim’s side still ran out 2-1 winners in New Jersey.
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Bruno Fernandes agrees with Ruben Amorim
United certainly looked sharp in the first half, and appeared to take something of a breather after Bruno’s second goal.
A raft of second-half changes certainly disrupted the flow of the game, but Amorim can be largely pleased with United’s display.
Speaking to NBC Sports at half-time, Amorim suggested that United needed longer periods of possession with the ball, believing that his side were trying to finish off attacks too quickly.
Bruno certainly agreed, telling NBC Sports (27/07, 2am UK) that United were rushing a little in possession and trying to score as quickly as possible.
The United captain believes this must be improved moving forward, with more sustained pressure the target rather than trying to rush.
Bruno was happy with the overall performance, though, and
“Overall, the game was good,” said Bruno.
“We were very good on the ball. In some moments, we could have done longer possessions, as the manager was asking us. We rushed a little bit in the last third, to get our chance, to get our goals. We have to work on that to be more able to get into the final third and then play from there, but I think overall it was a very good game from us,” he added.
Bruno on Manchester United training
Bruno also spoke about United’s training sessions during this first pre-season campaign under Amorim.
Amorim wasn’t entirely keen on joining United in the middle of last season, believing that coming in for the full pre-season schedule would have been much more beneficial.
Bruno now claims that United’s training sessions have been ‘very, very good’, but also ‘tough’ ahead of the new season.
The Portuguese ace is happy to go through the gruelling sessions in order to be ready for the Premier League, and was pleased to pick up a victory – even in a friendly.
“I felt good. Training sessions have been very, very good. We have been doing very well, obviously tough ones, but it’s to prepare ourselves for these kind of games,” said Bruno.
“It’s good, obviously, to win the games. Even being a friendly, we want to win every game to prepare ourselves in the best way and, obviously, to go into the season in a positive way,” he added.
United’s next game will come against Bournemouth in the early hours of Thursday morning, with the game taking place at Soldier Field in Chicago.
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