Manchester United

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Have Manchester United turned a corner?

It is a question that has been asked multiple times this season already, but in light of their display against Real Sociedad on Thursday, things are looking more positive for Ruben Amorim's side.

"They were much better," said BBC Radio 5 Live's Conor McNamara on The Commentators' View podcast. "It felt like how Old Trafford used to feel like back in the day.

"There was a buzz, an energy and a performance from the team that, quite frankly, hasn't been there.

"It felt like they were all on the same page and it has obviously come off the back of talk of a new stadium. There has been a lot of doom and gloom around the club and some of the players might have wondered if they were going anywhere, but then they see the plans for a new stadium and they then think: 'I want to be part of it.'

"It felt like there was a change in mood at Old Trafford."

Listen to the The Commentators' View podcast on BBC Sounds

Nick Mashiter
BBC Sport football news reporter

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Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy believes Manchester United are in a "better place" than when they beat the Foxes in February.

Harry Maguire's injury-time header - which should have been ruled out for offside - gave United a 2-1 FA Cup win.

Since then, United have lost once in the Premier League and reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League, after a 5-2 aggregate win over Real Sociedad, although were knocked out of the FA Cup by Fulham on penalties.

They go to King Power Stadium on Sunday 14th in the table.

"It's a great boost [for them] they are in the quarter finals of the Europa League," said Van Nistelrooy.

"Bruno [Fernandes] is in great form, so he is very decisive in that team. It's a team which has some momentum going, so they are in a better place than when we played them in the FA Cup."

Former United striker Van Nistelrooy left Old Trafford after a spell as interim manager in November after Ruben Amorim's appointment - having rejoined the club as assistant coach to Erik ten Hag last summer.

He was unbeaten in his four games in charge - which included two wins over Leicester.

The Foxes have lost 12 of their past 13 games in the Premier League, leaving them second bottom and six points from safety.

They have also not scored a home league goal since 8 December, when they drew 2-2 with Brighton in Van Nistelrooy's second game.

"I wouldn't go into that particularly and blow it up. It's one of the things we work on. We are conceding too many goals and we are trying to improve," he said.

"The chances we create and the chances we missed, we have spoken about it before. It's also knowing from experience. I didn't score every game and I missed some chances, or I didn't score for a couple of games. When you start scoring you get momentum and the goals will come."

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Earlier we asked you who is second behind Ryan Giggs when it comes to winning Premier League games for Manchester United (407)

The answer is Paul Scholes, who chalked up 321 league victories for United.

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has spoken to the media before Sunday's Premier League game at Leicester City (kick-off 19:00 GMT).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

• He said they have "tried not to risk" centre-back Harry Maguire but he will be assessed before Sunday's game.

• Mason Mount is likely to be on the bench, with Amorim adding: "We need him and every player. He cannot play too many minutes but just five minutes of Mason Mount is perfect."

• More from Amorim on Mount: "I really love Mason Mount. I see him and know how he suffered. I know how he does everything right - he eats right, his physical aspect is perfect. When a player does everything like he does, he will always have the support of everybody here at the club. We will try to manage the load."

• On his ideas starting to show in performances: "We are better at understanding the plan for the games. We are not conceding a goal and losing our minds and suffering another goal."

• He said in "different competitions we have to rotate" because of fatigue and injuries, but he is hopeful Kobbie Mainoo "will return in a few weeks" and Manuel Ugarte is also close.

• On 18-year-old Ayden Heaven: "If he continues like that he is going to play. He is young but I really like his confidence. I like his pace and he is good in defending the box. I think he is quite complete but he has a lot of work to do - and in the Premier League he will be tested in a different way [each week]. We are trying to manage all this because he is still really young."

• He said sticking to Thursday's selection may not be possible because "against Lyon the physicality is going to be more demanding and we have a lot of difficult games in the Premier League".

• On opponents Leicester, who are fighting relegation: "We have to be humble and forget the table and face Leicester like we faced Real Sociedad. We just need to win to improve our position in the table. The most important thing is continuing with this feeling of winning and we are improving as a team."

• Amorim said he "is really proud to coach a player like Bruno Fernandes" and, despite criticism in recent weeks from former players, "he is always the guy who scores and he is always there" in the big moments.

• More on Fernandes: "When you play for this team you have to be prepared for the critics. I understand that former players had a lot of success here and the standard for them was so high. They see things like that in black and white. Life is sometimes not black and white - there are other colours and you have to understand that context. He is always there, trying his best."

Listen to live commentary of Leicester v Man Utd on BBC Radio 5 Live from 19:00 on Sunday

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Manchester United have lost just one of their past eight Premier League away games against Leicester - a 4-2 defeat in October 2021.

Manchester United and Tottenham both reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League with vital home victories in the last 16 on Thursday.

United will face French side Lyon with the second leg taking place at Old Trafford. If they progress, they will play the winners of Athletic Bilbao or Rangers, the latter who they beat in the group stages.

Meanwhile, Spurs host Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals, with the winner of that playing either Lazio or Bodo/Glimt of Norway in the final four.

Josh Lobley
BBC Sport Journalist

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Bruno Fernandes' hat-trick heroics rightly grabbed the headlines after Manchester United's victory against Real Sociedad, but Patrick Dorgu's performance should not go unnoticed.

The Dane caused the Spanish side havoc from minute one, winning his side a penalty and drawing a red card from Jon Aramburu. He could have won his side another penalty on the evening but, in an act of class, Dorgu encouraged the referee to overturn his decision after he was tackled fairly in the box.

He found himself in excellent positions in the final third throughout the match, leading the United team (alongside Alejandro Garnacho) for touches inside the opposition box and only being bettered by Bruno Fernandes for shots taken. Playing with this much confidence in attack, Dorgu's first goal for the club should be right around the corner.

The 20 year-old also put a shift in defensively, winning more duels than any player on the pitch and often tracking back to support youngster Ayden Heaven on his first start for the club.

It felt like a quintessential wing-back performance from Dorgu, dominating the left flank and linking up intelligently with his new team-mates. Finding a similar player to play in the opposite wing-back position would be a huge step in the right direction towards Manchester United playing the Ruben Amorim way.

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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has revealed he could have left the club in the summer.

The 30 year old scored a hat-trick against Real Sociedad to help Ruben Amorim's side into the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday but has now explained there was offer to sign him in the summer.

He confirmed he had held talks with the club about his future.

"I sat with the club because I had an offer to leave," he said. "We talked about the possibility of me leaving the club or staying.

"They said what they wanted from me. I just asked if they still see me as part of the future of the club or not. I spoke at the time with (Erik) Ten Hag also.

"He was very clear with me - the club was very clear with me - that they thought I would be a big part of this rebuild. I thought that we could be successful."

Read more here

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We asked for your thoughts after Manchester United progressed to the Europa League quarter-finals with victory over Real Sociedad.

Here are some of your comments:

Jan: What a game! Thoroughly enjoyed it as, it appeared, so did the players! Rasmus Hojlund is so so close and a goal can't be too far away. Same XI for the Leicester game please.

Danyal: Bruno, Bruno, Bruno! Where would we be without him? He may shrug his shoulders but who cares - he plays with passion and has done over the last five years for United. Without him, we would be toast! His passion and work rate makes everyone around him work hard. By far the best signing and only possible captain to bring us silverware not only this season but seasons to come. The team is slowly glueing together!

Christopher: I was reminded of why and how I fell in love with Manchester United. It was an all-team effort and the togetherness of the team was evident for us all to see. It paid dividends. There were easily six or seven United players who could have won player of the match. Well done, boys.

Edward: Fantastic display from the team. Amorim should continue his tactics because I believe he will put us to another level. Brilliant job from the captain Fernandes and Hojlund played well despite going goalless. He needs to work extra hard to be finding the net.

Agim: The best performance of the season by far. Respect for the whole team. The team performance is what Manchester United is all about. Well done Amorim.

Barry: A long-awaited proper team performance. At last, some decent attempts to get the ball to Hojlund albeit at the cost of not getting more goals from those in possibly better positions. His team-mates and crowd were behind him all through and he was a threat.

Ryan Giggs is comfortably the leader when it comes to Premier League wins as a Manchester United player (407).

But who is in second?

Answer will be revealed at 17:00 GMT

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Former Manchester United striker Dion Dublin praised Bruno Fernandes' display in Thursday's win over Real Sociedad:

"I don't know how he does it but he seems to affect every single game in some way, whether it be an assist or goal or something special.

"He's taking charge of the whole team - he's the manager on the pitch. He's seems to like that responsibility.

"He closes down and expects all his team-mates to come in behind him. Yes he got two penalties but with his third goal he's in and he could have tried to find Rasmus Hojlund but he knew how important it was to score to make sure.

"He was the conductor and his performance was just brilliant."

Listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds

Friday's back pages are unsurprisingly emblazoned with pictures of Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes celebrating his hat-trick in Thursday's Europa League last-16 victory over Real Sociedad.

In some quarters, the match was billed as United's last chance to keep their season alive beyond mid-March, which the Daily Star leans into by labelling Fernandes 'Captain Marvel' and hailing his 'season-saver' performance.

The Daily Express leads with the headline 'Bruno Socs it to Them' and lauds the Portugal international's showing as 'another stunning captain's performance'.

Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal are among the clubs showing an interest in Nottingham Forest and England midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White, 25. (Caughtoffside), external

Crystal Palace's French forward Jean-Philippe Mateta, 27, is one of the four strikers Manchester United have shortlisted for the summer. (TeamTalk), external

Meanwhile, Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong - a long-term target of Manchester United - has fully recovered from an ankle injury but is now ready to sign a long-term deal to stay with the Spanish side. (Cadena SER), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, speaking to TNT Sports: "This club is all about winning.

"We need to win games. We have a long way to go, but we are confident if we focus on every game ahead and have the right mentality we can win games."

On reacting to Real Sociedad's opening goal: "Obviously, it was good for us. We react quick.

"A penalty is a bit unlucky, but then we get our penalty with a great ball from Casemiro."

On confidence in the team: "With the result and performance when you start to get a bit more confident, confidence is a big thing in football.

"We are doing very good progress, but the progress will be seen if we get results. At this club it is all about results."

On Rasmus Hojlund: "He is a striker, strikers are all about goals. For us, in the dressing room, we want Rasmus to score as many as he can.

"When the first one comes he will start to score more and more."

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Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim, speaking TNT Sports: "It was a complete week. We showed a bit of the future. Today, we had a good performance from our team - the physicality was there.

"In this competition it is completely different - we can be the dominant side in physicality. It was a tough week, but a good week.

"I am also learning how to use players like Casemiro. Without a lot of options we are trying to put our players in the best positions. You can feel they have more freedom because of the one game in Spain [first leg against Real Sociedad] we tried to use the pace of Garnacho on the right.

"He has shown me so many things on the right, maybe better than the left."

On Rasmus Hojlund: "We play with two 10s. We need one player to push the team and make the runs. He his helping a lot. Today, he did three or four connections that can allow us to change the game.

"He just needs to score a goal, he is so anxious."

Were you at the game or following from elsewhere?

Have your say on United's performance

Come back to this page on Friday to find a selection of your replies