'We don't need to save anyone's job' – Fernandes defiant after Champions League comeback

Bruno Fernandes says Manchester United "don't need to save anyone's job" after they ended their nine-game winless streak with a superb comeback victory over Roma in the Champions League.

The pressure has been ramping up on Michael Carrick in recent weeks, with United's last win before Tuesday coming on MD1 of the competition against Sabah in September.

They were, in fact, on their worst winless run since 1988, and things only looked to be getting worse when Matias Soule and Donyell Malen scored to put Roma 2-0 within the first 17 minutes at Old Trafford.

But Fernandes scored a retaken penalty to halve the deficit before Matheus Cunha netted a late brace to complete the comeback, albeit the Brazilian was then sent off for a second bookable offence in the 91st minute.

It has been a tumultuous period for United, with Fernandes playing his part in that after criticising Carrick's tactics following the Red Devils' dismal 4-1 loss to Como.

But the United captain says the club as a whole needed the victory, not just Carrick.

"We don't need to save anyone's job," he told Amazon Prime when asked about Carrick's situation. "The club needed that win, the players needed that win.

"We have been working so hard to get out of this situation together. It's been tough; there's been a lot of speculation in the media.

"A lot of lies around many things that have happened between me and the manager, that we have cleared the air, then after that the manager took the decision to [put me] on the bench because I'm not performing.

"Everyone thought that was a punishment for the words that I had. If it was, it was right. The manager is the one who makes the decisions.

"It doesn't change the belief I have in the manager and the staff, and every player in this club. It doesn't change my aim to win every game that I have ahead of me.

"It's about performing at this club, getting results and winning games. It's been a long time; we didn't get a win. It's been frustrating for them [the fans] as much as us, too, but we didn't take that the wrong way because it's normal.

"Fans want to win games. They are used to seeing this club at the top, winning trophies, and it's been frustrating to see the club in this situation.

"We are all frustrated with the situation, and we want to get out of this, and hopefully this win gives us the start of something good for us."

Roma became the quickest visiting team to score twice at Old Trafford in major European competition, beating Sporting Braga's record of 20 minutes from October 2012.

However, United were a different side after the break, with 10 of their 15 shots coming in the second half, as well as 2.5 of their 2.7 total expected goals (xG).

Roma, on the other hand, did not manage a single shot in the second half.

Fernandes added: "It's been a tough period for us; we have not been able to play in the way we want, get the results we want.

"We've done some good bits but not had the consistency to do it through a whole game to get results, and it's been tough. But it was important to get a win.

"We knew after that we still had the fans with us; we felt we could change it with a goal and something, and fortunately we did it. Having that belief from their side helps the team a lot, and this was one of those days that Old Trafford came alive."