Ruben Amorim praised “perfect captain” Bruno Fernandes after his hat-trick inspired Manchester United to a much-needed Europa League victory against Real Sociedad.
This season’s domestic struggles have made Thursdays vital for the Red Devils, who kept their only hopes of silverware and, realistically, European qualification alive by securing a 5-2 aggregate triumph thanks to a 4-1 second-leg win at Old Trafford.
Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring from the spot for La Real, but Fernandes kept his cool to score a pair of penalties before netting a third goal after substitute Jon Aramburu was sent off for the visitors.
Diogo Dalot completed a win that provides a welcome boost and set up a quarter-final clash against Lyon, with Fernandes dreaming of lifting another trophy.
“When we need it, he’s always there,” Amorim said of the Portugal playmaker.
“In the set-pieces, he can change position, he can bring the ball forward, he can score goals, he can make transitions, like he showed today in the last 10 minutes of the game.
“He can defend so it’s a perfect captain for our team, and we need to help him to win titles, because he deserves a lot.”
Absentee-hit United’s impressive win puts a pep in their step ahead of Sunday’s Premier League trip to embattled Leicester and lifted the mood around Old Trafford.
“You can feel the fans, the noise… it’s hard to explain,” Amorim said.
“You feel confidence from the supporters. It was a really good night and we have this competition and it gives us a lot of energy and confidence to go to our games in the Premier League.
“We feel you can go to the next stage and we believe that we can go to another stage.
“This week was a different week.. We dealt with a lot of problems of the present, we show the future.
“It’s not finished because we have a game on Sunday, but this game today was really good for everybody in the club – the staff, the players, and especially the fans.”
United will again be without a swathe of injured players at Leicester, where Patrick Dorgu completes a three-match domestic ban.
Against Sociedad, the winter acquisition earned a penalty, drew a red card and sportingly told the referee that Hamari Traore’s late challenge on him was not a spot-kick as the decision was overturned.
Asked if he liked Dorgu’s sportsmanship, Amorim said with a laugh: “It depends. It’s the right thing to do, so I’m quite proud of him… but it depends.
“I cannot say if it’s 0-0 or we’re losing I have the same response, so he did well, he did a great performance. He was improving during the game.
“He’s learning a lot in that position. He has the physicality, he’s clearly able to play in our league, so it was a good game, and a good action from Dorgu.”
As United progress, La Real head coach Imanol Alguacil returns to Spain raging with referee Benoit Bastien.
“We didn’t deserve a refereeing performance like that,” he said. “But neither did this tie, neither did this stadium.”
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