Tony Mogan
Published January 17, 2026 7:43pm
Updated January 17, 2026 7:43pm
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Neville liked what he saw in the derby (Picture: Getty)
Gary Neville heaped praise on the ‘outstanding’ Bryan Mbuemo and Bruno Fernandes following Manchester United’s derby victory over Manchester City, comparing the latter to club legend Eric Cantona.
In Michael Carrick’s first game in charge as interim head coach, United turned in one of their best performances of the season, dominating their neighbours at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.
United scored twice in the second-half after Amad Diallo had one chalked off for offside in the first period. The hosts also struck the woodwork twice with Mason Mount also having one ruled out late on.
Mbeumo was straight back in the United starting XI after returning from the Africa Cup of Nations this week, replacing Benjamin Sesko up front.
It allowed Fernandes to return to his no 10 role with the two combining brilliantly for the opening goal.
Speaking during the game while on punditry duty for Sky Sports, Neville warned United supporters not to get too carried away with what could be another ‘false start’ but hailed the contribution of the pair.
‘Bruno Fernandes and Bryan Mbeumo have both been outstanding and they haven’t quite connected perfectly, but now they do. It is absolutely electric in this ground,’ Neville said.
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Fernandes’ performance was ‘Cantona-esque’, said Neville (Picture: Getty)
‘This is not a time to get giddy. There has been many false starts. That is three days of pretty good work that we have seen in 65 minutes from Michael Carrick, I have to say.”
‘I expected a battle. Yes, of course. But I don’t think Man City were expecting United to be as organised and devastating in the combinations in the attack.’
Speaking after the game, Neville went onto describe Fernandes’ performance as ‘Cantona-esque’ having returned to his favoured role in attack.
Mbeumo also came in for huge praise (Picture: Getty)
‘That’s where he’s got to play, be near to goal, be where you can hurt them, because he’s a great player. We don’t want to see him back in a midfield two in front of a back three,’ Neville he told the Gary Neville Podcast.
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‘Is that where we want to see him? No, it’s definitely not right. I just saw so many things that reminded me of what this club plays like, what their DNA is, what they should be.’
‘I’ve always said Manchester United’s system is such, you have a forward and then you have a No 10, it can be [Dwight] Yorke, it can be Cantona, it can be [Wayne] Rooney, it can be [Carlos] Tevez, it can be [Dimitar] Berbatov. Those players that just drop in off a striker, Scholes did it for a number of years.
‘We’ve always had that most talented player close to our striker and feeding them, and that’s what made me a little bit emotional on that goal.’
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