Luke Shaw has confirmed that he scored two goals during Manchester United’s in-house 4-4 friendly draw on Saturday which also saw Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes score a goal each.
The game at Old Trafford was arranged to build up the players’ match fitness ahead of the Premier League return with their first game to be against Tottenham.
Rumours over the final scoreline and players who scored have been circulating on social media over the last few days, and Shaw has now come out to reveal what happened.
The Manchester 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.
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“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 home game without fans: “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.
"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 discuss the importance of their meeting with Tottenham, as both teams 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."
