Shaw reveals he scored twice in 4-4 Man Utd friendly draw as Rashford & Fernandes also on target

Shaw reveals he scored twice in 4-4 Man Utd friendly draw as Rashford & Fernandes also on target

The Red Devils defender has given a summary of a thrilling intra-squad practice game at Old Trafford over the weekend
Luke Shaw has confirmed that he scored twice during Manchester United’s in-house 4-4 friendly draw on Saturday which also saw Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes find the back of the net.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad split into two teams of 11 to take part in a 90-minute game at Old Trafford over the weekend.

The game was arranged to build up the players’ match fitness ahead of their return to the pitch against Tottenham on June 19.

Rumours over the final scoreline and team members have been circulating on social media over the last few days, and Shaw has now come out to set the record straight.

The United full-back told MUTV: “We had a great 11-a-side training game on the Old Trafford pitch over the weekend and it was eventful!

“There have been a lot of different things circulating on social media and I’m happy to set the record straight: it did end 4-4 and I did score twice! Also on my team, Bruno [Fernandes] got one and Jamo [Daniel James] got one, while, on the other team, Rashy [Marcus Rashford] got two and so did Odion [Ighalo].

“To be fair, my first goal was decent. It was from a great cross by Bruno and my volley went straight in. I was happy with it. My other one was just getting forward, Juan [Mata] played it to me on the edge of the box, I took a touch and shot in. It was quite an open game, as you can probably gather, with a lot of space, since it was the first game back.

“Everyone looked good and the most important thing was getting minutes in the tank. This was definitely a step forward from the games we’ve been having at the training ground.”

Shaw added on the experience of playing a full home game without supporters: “It was also our first chance to get used to a silent Old Trafford, which was different. We all felt like it made the pitch seem bigger because the stands are totally empty.

“Sometimes during games the fans push you on when you’re tired, but now we’ve got to get to grips without that support. It was a really valuable exercise to be able to play at Old Trafford without that.

“We were creating our own noise around the stadium and that’s something we’ve got to make sure we do.

“The important thing is that it’s another step forward. It’s getting more and more exciting now and we just want to get playing games. We’ve got a couple of in-house games at the training ground scheduled over the next few days, which will help us step things up even further before the big game next week against Spurs.”

Shaw went on to talk up the importance of their meeting with Tottenham, as both clubs continue to chase down a top-four finish in the Premier League.

“It’s a massive fixture and I think everyone on both sides has got full-strength squads now, so it should be a really good game. It’s definitely one we’re all looking forward to,” he said.

“In training, we’re looking really sharp, really fit and ready to go. We’re looking forward to it. We just need to pick up where we left off, doing the things we were doing before the break, and, hopefully, we can climb towards the Champions League spots, which is what we really want.”