Ruben Amorim said that Manchester United’s late 3-2 win over Burnley, their first victory of the season, was important as his players showed signs of how he wants his team to play.
A disappointing start to the season - a home defeat by Arsenal, followed by a draw at Fulham and then a shock EFL Cup exit to League Two side Grimsby Town - looked set to continue as promoted Burnley twice fought back to be drawing 2-2 as the match entered stoppage time at Old Trafford.
But a penalty converted by Bruno Fernandes, who had missed from the spot at Fulham last week, earned United a vital three points.
'We had to fight until last minute'
"This is really important, but in the future, we are going to find out [how big this win was],” Amorim told the club website.
“It’s three points. If you look at the game, we should solve the game in the first half and control the game, but it’s never easy. We have to try to fight until the last minute.
“We return a little bit to the team that we should be - competitive, creating chances we need to score - sometimes we block the opponent in their half. We press really high so we have a lot to do but we return a little bit to our level today.
"It’ll help us because we have two weeks, with a lot of opportunities. Not to get one win would be tough on the team so it’s going to be important.
"It was a game we had to win and we won, but we have a lot to do.”
'I don't like watching penalties'
Asked why he decided not to watch Fernandes’s penalty, instead looking to the stands, Amorim replied: "I don’t like to see penalties but I like to see the image of the fans.
"But I was just thinking that what has to be has to be, and we understand sometimes one moment can change a lot of things.
"But in that moment I was just thinking it’s fair to win this game. I was not expecting Bruno to miss two penalties in a row.”
Amorim refuses to watch Fernandes penalty
Double injury blow
The victory did come at a cost with summer signing Matheus Cunha going off in the first half and Mason Mount at half-time.
“It was hard to lose Cunha and Mason Mount, because Mason Mount played 30 minutes with an injury,” Amorim told Sky Sports.
Later he said: “I don’t know [how they are]. We will check them. We need those guys really bad to be really competitive.”
On possible transfer activity
As to any further signings before the summer transfer window closes on 1 September, Amorim did not specify, even if the departure of winger Alejandro Garnacho to Chelsea was confirmed afterwards.
"I am always speaking with them [the board] to try and improve the team," he said.