Christian Eriksen admits referee Anthony Taylor helped Man Utd score against Arsenal

Manchester United midfielder Christian Eriksen revealed what he and his team-mates made of the positioning of the Arsenal wall for Bruno Fernandes’ goal following their 1-1 draw

Christian Eriksen quipped that he was “happy” to see how far back the Arsenal wall was for Bruno Fernandes’ goal following an error from Anthony Taylor.

Fernandes scored Manchester United’s goal in Sunday’s 1-1 draw against the Gunners with Declan Rice equalising for the visitors. It emerged at half time that Taylor had positioned the Arsenal wall 11.2 yards back from Fernandes, rather than the regular 10 yards.

The incident became a big talking point at half time and United players were left annoyed when they were seemingly forced further back in the second half in a role reversal.

But when Eriksen was asked about Fernandes first half strike, the midfielder said: “Very good, happy that the wall was about 15 metres away. You saw how far back they were and it was beneficial for us.

“We felt relief from the fans in the stadium after the goal.”

On the result, which lifted United up a place to 14th in the Premier League standings, Eriksen added: “If you look at the chances, we could have won it. We tried to play on the counter as much as possible which was the game plan.”

Ruben Amorim praised his side for holding their own against an Arsenal side who have fought Liverpool for the title this season. But the Portuguese coach insisted that he did not want his team to be as defensive moving forward.

He told Sky Sports: “I think we did well. Of course we don’t want to play like this defending so much and giving the ball to the opponent. With all the games and characteristics of the players. [Victor] Lindelof for example without a lot of games. Casemiro is more comfortable in this sort of game.

“It’s the opponent. The last game before the Champions League was high pressure by PSV, man to man. they are harder to make in this way. We have some good players in the transition. [Alejandro] Garnacho made a really good game.

“It’s normal. We try to keep the starting XI until the goal. When you suffer a goal, the players tire. We try to choose the best moments to press high.

“When you coach Manchester United, you cannot play too much like that. You have to try to win the game. I know it is frustrating for the fans sometimes. We have to deal with that and sometimes do things that are not popular.”

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