15 January 2023 , 10:42
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Luke Shaw has stressed that it's "too early" for Manchester United to dream about winning the Premier League again - even though their Manchester derby triumph has propelled them into the title race.
United claimed a famous victory over Manchester City at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon courtesy of two goals in four second-half minutes from Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford. The result means that United are now just one point behind City in third place and six points behind Arsenal, who are still clear at the top of the league.
Even though United are now within touching distance of the Gunners, who they face in a mouthwatering clash next Sunday, Erik ten Hag was reluctant to entertain talk of a title challenge after masterminding a win over the reigning champions.
Speaking after the match, the Dutchman said: "The fans may dream but we are not, we have to keep our feet on the ground and face that our game has a lot to improve. It can’t happen that after half-time we are losing so much control in the game."
And Ten Hag's sentiments were echoed by Shaw, who impressed again in an unfamiliar centre-back role against City's star man Erling Haaland. "It’s too early to think about that," the defender said when he was quizzed about the title. "Right now as a team we have make sure we have the right consistency in performances and results.
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"It’s always about winning. If you play well or not you need to be winning, and recently we’ve been doing that. We’ve not been playing our best but we’ve still been winning games."
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Luke Shaw isn't getting carried away after victory in the Manchester derby (Manchester United YouTube)Although Shaw and Ten Hag were both hesitant to talk up Manchester United's title credentials, their impressive run of form has not gone unnoticed: they've lost just twice in their last 15 games after recovering from an underwhelming start to the season and are the only team still competing in four different competitions after booking their spot in the Carabao Cup semi-finals earlier in the week.
Shaw did admit that it's in United's DNA to aim high - and that it is down to the players to live up to expectations during the second half of the season.
He added: "We’re still in four competitions. We’re Manchester United, we have to aim high, and of course we want to win all four but whether that happens or not is down to us, it’s down to the way we act, the way we rest and get ready for the next game.
"Now we have to forget about this game, forget about this win. We have a massive game on Wednesday against Crystal Palace."