Manchester United talisman Bruno Fernandes says he missed Marcus Rashford's goal against Brighton because Joel Veltman "almost broke my ankle".
United picked up a hard-fought 2-1 victory against Brighton at Old Trafford on Sunday night, thanks to second-half goals from Rashford and Mason Greenwood.
Fernandes set Rashford up to score with a beautifully weighted pass, but claims he didn't see his team-mate's well-placed finish after being floored by a late tackle from Veltman - who wasn't even booked for the challenge.
What's been said?
“I didn’t see it because someone almost broke my ankle!” the Portuguese midfielder told MUTV post-match.
“But I’m happy for the team, I am happy for Marcus. It was a good effort because as everyone knows he has come back from injury and he’s helped us.
“This effort comes from everyone. The press for the first goal was good it made them do the wrong ball and I recovered the ball and passed to Marcus and he scores. Everyone is happy when we win and it doesn’t matter who scores.”
United come through stern Brighton test
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side looked rusty in their first fixture after the international break as Brighton set about disrupting their rhythm right from the very first whistle.
The visitors got their reward for their high pressing tactics when ex-Red Devils striker Danny Welbeck opened the scoring after 13 minutes, heading home at the second time of asking after meeting a teasing Neal Maupay cross.
United finished the first half without a single shot on target to their name, but stepped their game up significantly in the second period, with Rashford grabbing the equaliser just after the hour mark.
The striker produced a cool first-time finish after being played in by Fernandes, who was also heavily involved in the winning goal.
The 26-year-old found Paul Pogba in the box with a neat cross seven minutes from time, and the Frenchman saw his mis-hit volley turned into the net expertly by Greenwood.
The final result saw United move four points clear of Leicester in the race for second place in the Premier League standings and nine ahead of fourth-placed Chelsea.
Fernandes hails Greenwood
Fernandes reserved special praise for Greenwood after his late strike, while insisting that the teenager shouldn't be judged purely on his goalscoring record.
“Everyone has to know that Mason is a young player and now everyone is starting to know how Mason is, it will become more and more difficult for him,” he added.
“It is normal. It is part of the development for him and he will learn from here so it doesn’t matter how many goals he scores; the most important thing for us is that he still helps the team and he is doing his best.
“It is important for us as a team, it doesn’t matter who scores. If Mason scores for us or not, it is important if he can do other jobs, recover balls, pressing, defend when we need it, make assists, create danger.
“So it is not important for him to score. He has to understand, he is such a young lad. Of course, every striker wants to score but, anyway, he will score more and more goals as the seasons pass.”
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