‘Winning has to be a habit’: Bruno Fernandes message to Man Utd teammates after Arsenal win

Manchester United secured their four consecutive wins in the Premier League on Sunday, beating top of the table Arsenal 3-1 at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils started the season terribly with two defeats in as many games, but their fortunes have changed since defeating rivals Liverpool on August 22.

Erik ten Hag sealed the £85m signing of Antony from former club Ajax last week, with the Brazilian making his debut on Sunday, scoring United’s opening goal.

Ten Hag’s side moved up to fifth in the table following the victory and now sit just three points of league leaders Arsenal after six games.

Bruno Fernandes, who has captained the Red Devils in the last four games due to Harry Maguire not being selected for the starting XI, assisted Marcus Rashford’s first goal of the afternoon.

The Portuguese midfielder now wants him and his teammates to continue United’s good form, insisting winning ‘has to be a habit’.

“It has to become a habit,” Fernandes told MUTV after the match.

“We know that, playing for this club, [winning] has to be a habit. We have to do that. We know that sometimes we get a result, sometimes we don’t, but the fight and the spirit and the togetherness has to always be there to get three points.”

Ten Hag made the bold decision to drop Maguire following the club’s opening two league defeats, but so far the Dutchman’s choice has paid off, with Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez forming a solid partnership in defence.

The duo, alongside Diogo Dalot and Tyrell Malacia, have conceded just two goals in their last four games - a third of what United did in against Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford.

Fernandes has praised the Red Devils’ defensive display against the Gunners on Sunday, citing United’s ‘fighting spirit’ was the reason for the win.

“I thought everyone was compact,” he said. “The togetherness was there, the fighting spirit and everything and that’s why we get the three points and that’s why we have a performance like that.

“Sometimes you have to be deep, you have to defend, you have to defend your own box because the other team has quality and can cause you problems. If you do like we did today, you don’t concede many and you score more than them.

“We know we can be a threat on the counter-attack and we can also play a little bit more and we have to play a little bit more, we know that.”

The Red Devils will take a break from league action in midweek when they welcome Real Sociedad to Old Trafford on Thursday evening in the Europa League Group Stage.