Luke Shaw aims dig at rivals Manchester City after United triumphed in derby

Luke Shaw has claimed that Manchester United ‘wanted it more’ than Manchester City after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side celebrated victory in the Old Trafford derby.

United’s third win over their neighbours this season was also their most deserved as goals from Anthony Martial and Scott McTominay sealed a 2-0 victory and kept up the chase for a top-four finish.

Shaw sensed out on the pitch that he and his teammates had a greater desire to win than a City side sat comfortably in second place in the table with no chance of catching runaway leaders Liverpool.

Luke Shaw has claimed that Manchester United ‘wanted it more’ than Manchester City

Raheem Sterling (left) covers his face with his shirt after his side’s disappointing performance

‘I think it was so important, not just the points but the magnitude of the game and how big it is to everyone in this city,’ said Shaw. ‘I think if you look at it, maybe we wanted it more. I felt like we wanted it more. I’m very happy and proud of the way the team played.

‘The fans were amazing today and it helps us even more when they’re like that. The last few years they’ve had very disappointing results against Man City at home. Away we’ve been good, but at home we’ve struggled.

‘You just smile when you come off the pitch, the way they’re singing makes us all very happy. We’re glad that we can get them singing like that with an amazing result like this.’

Anthony Martial celebrates scoring his side’s first goal at Old Trafford against rivals City

Martial volleyed United in front in the first half but they were hanging onto the one-goal lead when McTominay pounced on another error by City keeper Ederson to score the second from long range late on.

Shaw admitted that he wanted his teammate to take the ball into the corner and waste time instead of shooting at an empty net after latching onto Ederson’s stray throw.

‘To be fair, in my head I was like: “Why is he shooting? Run it in the corner!”,’ added Shaw. ‘I think it topped off such an amazing game and a result I think we deserved.’

United are now unbeaten in 10 games – including seven wins and eight clean sheets – which is their best run since Solskjaer came in as caretaker boss and went undefeated for 11 games.

Scott McTominay added a second from distance deep into injury time for the Red Devils

That sequence began to fall apart at the same stage of the season in March as United won just two of their final 12 games after Solskjaer was appointed on a permanent basis, but Shaw thinks they are better equipped to carry on winning this time.

‘I think back then emotions got over us too much we didn’t maintain that,’ he said. ‘I think this time we’re in different position.

‘We’re probably more experienced now because it was very disappointing the way we dropped off and that’s not Man United. We need to keep the standards high.

‘I’m sure the boss and the coaches around us will keep pushing, but also us as players we need to push each other every day to get to where we want to be. I have no doubt that we can finish off the season really strong.

‘We can’t stop here, we can’t be happy with just this. We need to keep going and push on. We need to keep the standards high. We’ve got another massive game on Thursday (against Austrian side LASK in the Europa League).

‘We’re still in two cup competitions and the top-four is still very much alive. We’ve got to keep putting the pressure on and try not to focus too much on other teams.

‘We’re shutting up shop and keeping clean sheets, which is a very good positive, so we need to keep going.’