Lindelof describes late call to face Brighton
Manchester United defender Victor Lindelof has revealed when he found out about his late inclusion in the starting XI for our 2-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Swede had originally been listed as a substitute for the match at Old Trafford, but was drafted into team that kicked off against the Seagulls because of Raphael Varane being taken ill.
On how much notice he had to prepare himself, Victor told club media: “I would say 15 minutes or so before the warm-up but I mean, before every game, even if I am playing or not, I am always preparing in the same way.
“I am always ready for whatever so yeah, today they told me I was going to start late on but, like I said, I’m always ready and I’m happy to help the team.”
Lindelof: We defended well as a team
Victor Lindelof felt it was a collective effort as the Reds kept a clean sheet against Brighton...
He added: “Usually I am not a nervous guy. I always trust my abilities and I know what I can do on the pitch. I prepare the same way even if I am playing or not so I’m always ready to play.”
United kept a clean sheet against Graham Potter’s men thanks, in part, to some excellent saves from David De Gea.
“All season, he’s been amazing and he did a fantastic save there for us,” Lindelof said about the keeper's stop from Jakub Moder. “If we keep a clean sheet, then we have all the opportunities to win the game and that’s what happened today, we kept a clean sheet, we defended great as a team I think, and we scored two goals so I’m very pleased.”
Despite taking the lead through Cristiano Ronaldo six minutes into the second half, it wasn’t until late in stoppage time when the Reds added their second via Bruno Fernandes, with Victor admitting that the wait did add to the tension.
“Of course, when it is 1-0, anything can happen in football, even when they have one man less,” he said.
“We pushed for the second goal, we had many opportunities to score the second goal. It came late, that was a great feeling when Bruno scored the second one.”
The defender added: “We know the game, we know the score is 1-0 but we just have to do our job and stay focused, so you don’t just run around thinking we have to score, we have to score, but we just try to manage the game and, like I said, go for the second goal.
“We managed to get it late, hopefully, in the next game, if it is the same type of game, we get it earlier.”