Bruno Fernandes says Manchester United need to ‘demand more’ after Everton draw | OneFootball

Bruno Fernandes says Manchester United’s players must “demand more” from themselves after Ruben Amorim’s men survived a wretched start to sneak a point at Everton.

The Red Devils are enduring one of their toughest campaigns in decades, with off-field problems compounded by a miserable Premier League campaign that leaves them 15th in the standings.

United have lost 12 top-flight matches and were on course for another as Everton punished meek, toothless play and some poor defending on their final trip to Goodison Park.

Beto and Abdoulaye Doucoure gave them a deserved half-time lead, only for Fernandes to spark a comeback by scoring a free-kick and sending over another that led to Manuel Ugarte securing a 2-2 draw.

“Every point now is massive for us because we are in a position that is very tough for us, that we shouldn’t be and unfortunately every point counts for us at the moment,” the United skipper said.

“We need to be aware that the position we are is not the best. It’s not where this club has to be, so we need to demand more from ourselves, understanding that we need every point in the league from now on every game we have ahead.”

United’s relief was palpable at full time given their awful start to a match that ended with Everton seeing a penalty overturned.

“We knew already before the game that they are in a very good moment since the manager came in,” Fernandes said. “They’ve been one of the teams doing most points during that time.

“We know how tough it is to come to Goodison Park and play against an Everton team that is very strong in duels and second balls, long balls, so we needed to be aware of that.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t start the game as aggressive as we should, and we conceded too many chances, and we didn’t create enough chances to score goals.”

Asked what he said to players to help them through the second half, the United captain told MUTV: “It’s difficult.

“I think when you are in the dressing room at half-time after a game like this, you just have to focus on yourself and trying to lift your standard and your game to try to get something from the game.

“Obviously, then it’s the work of the manager for us to try to follow the plan that we are we are doing the week, to not go out of that just because we we’re losing the game.

“It was very tough for us in the first half because we were trying to do the things, but it was not working out as the way we wanted. Sometimes because one player or two players were not in the right position in the right moment.

“But I think in the second half, obviously you’re 2-0 down, you (have) more freedom because you’re already losing so you have nothing to lose more, so I think you get more (feeling) of try to do something else, and that’s why you get the result.”

United return to action at home to Ipswich on Wednesday, when Everton travel to Brentford looking to secure a fifth Premier League win since David Moyes arrived.

There is a feeling within the dressing room that they should have already reached that figure, with Jake O’Brien saying they should have held their lead and that a penalty for a foul on Ashley Young should not have been reversed after the VAR’s intervention.

“We will take the point, but, at the end of the day, it kind of feels like a loss,” the Toffees defender said. “We should have come away with more.

“For 60 to 70 minutes, I think we were dominant and playing well, but bad decisions or tired legs kind of lost it for us at the end, and they punished us for it.

“I think it was a penalty. From what I could see, it looked obvious, it didn’t even look like something you would check, but I think he has made, from what I think, a lot of wrong decisions today.”