De Ligt: It was a really nice feeling beating City

Manchester United beat local rivals Manchester City 2-1 at the Etihad last weekend with goals from Bruno Fernandes and Amad. While the goals came late, United held their own in the game and were deserved winners. This performance was a contrast to other recent appearances away to City, and other top six teams, where we have struggled.

Matthijs de Ligt has reflected on the win in an interview with United Review and discusses the growth he’s seen in the players under new manager Ruben Amorim.

It’s a really nice feeling and a really important win for us. It was really good, but I think we quickly realised that of course it was a good, important win but we have to look forward because there are a lot of important games coming up and I think we’re not in a place to relax too much, especially in the table where we are right now.

I read a stat that it’s a long time ago that United won against a top-six team [away] in the last years. So I think to get this belief into the team, into the guys that: ‘Hey, we are United – of course we can win against teams where you normally should win, but we can also win against teams that are, on paper, maybe at the moment a little bit stronger or further in their development.’

So to get this win and this feeling inside the group that: ‘Hey, we start to believe that the way we are doing things is working’ is a really good feeling.

I think the most important thing is that we are growing as a team. You feel that [and] I think you see it on the pitch as well. There were some results in the last couple of games that could have been better but the feeling in the group is that we’re growing as a team and we’re starting to understand a bit more the way the trainer wants us to play. I think we also start to understand each other better in the system.

That’s the most important thing: that you always try to keep growing. If you win games without growing, you will not become the best version of yourself. I think the focus in the first weeks was on growing, then you see the results will slowly come. Hopefully we can build on that and start getting better results.

------------
The RoM Manchester United 2024-25 season preview is now available. It includes articles from the country's best football writers about our expectations for the season ahead and our brightest talents, as well as proposed transfer business and which youth players to keep an eye out for. All profit goes to The Christie so please support this fantastic cause.

The post De Ligt: It was a really nice feeling beating City first appeared on Republik Of Mancunia: A Manchester United Blog.