Matheus Cunha’s 89th minute equaliser for Manchester United at Fulham on Sunday helped Michael Carrick’s side avoid a third successive defeat.
Brazilian Cunha, playing as the main striker in the absence of the injured Benjamin Sesko, hit the post earlier in the game.
After a disappointing start to the season, United needed a win but did not get one. Cunha spoke to the media afterwards about the Fulham game, international break and a hectic restart next month.
Q. A disappointing performance, but fantastic to get that goal at the end to salvage a point …
A: To be honest, I don't feel like it was a bad performance. I feel like we created a lot of things. Maybe if we score more goals, everything could be easier, and then we finish with three points, everyone is happy. But that's part of the game also.
We were not very lucky in the end to finish the actions. And then I feel like we lost maybe 20 minutes of the control of the game, and then they enjoyed that, and then they scored a goal at that moment. But I feel like, of course, after this we play very well with a lot of character, a lot of energy. And I really think this is the way that we can keep going from the beginning, you know.
Can you why the team aren’t playing as they did for the last 20 minutes across the whole game?
It's hard, you know? It's hard because, in the beginning, we try to feel calmer, to do things with good decisions. But in the end, we feel like we need to do it and then we just do it. But I feel like this is part of Manchester United.
I feel like this kind of energy to do it, a little bit crazy moments, is kind of the spirit of the team and then we do well. But of course, we need to try to improve, to have this energy, these kinds of crazy moments. At the same time, we need to have the other part, to have a little bit more calm in the decisions. And then I think if we mix these two things, we improve much more.
Can this give you confidence as October is a big month with Champions League and a lot of big Premier League games? Getting that point at the end there, what does that do for you?
For me it's hard, but to be honest, I’m so anxious to play the next one. And then we have a big break now. Of course, when you don’t win, you feel 'let’s play the next one to win' and feel everything is good. But maybe it’s the moment to be calm, to put the ideas in the right way, to come back. And then of course that could be a big month. I hope this kind of things will be exciting. And then we can win more things, and everyone will be calm, show how we work for the shirt.
Does it feel like there's a lot more to come from the team this season? It has been a tough start, but it just feels like maybe it will take a little while to get up to speed.
Yeah, that will come. To be honest, that will come. Last season was my first season here, and then maybe it was more crazy than this one. There was a lot of noise around us, a season without Champions League, and now we're in. And we won our first game in the Champions League. And maybe people were saying “Oh, United will go to the Championship” or something like this. And then at the end of the day, we finished third, you know?
I feel like inside of us, we still have a lot of trust, we know what we do, all the belief is inside. But of course, it's only the beginning, and then we know we need to improve earlier, because last season we improved later, and then we finished third. So imagine if we improve earlier this season, something good can come.
