Bruno Fernandes’ set piece practice on the eve of Manchester United’s FA Cup tie against Liverpool paid dividends as he came off the bench to settle the contest.

Sunday’s fourth-round encounter at Old Trafford, which the hosts won 3-2, was a far cry from last weekend’s tense goalless draw at Anfield between the reigning Premier League champions and current leaders.

Mohamed Salah opened the scoring for Liverpool, only for goals from Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford to turn the tie on its head.

Salah brought Jurgen Klopp’s men level but Fernandes’ 78th-minute free-kick sealed victory for United, 12 minutes after he came on.

“We can take positives out of this game, of course. I saw a lot of steps in the right direction.

“It was good preparation for the Tottenham game with their counter-attacking threat, so we know exactly what we have to work on.

“But it’s how it is. If you’re in a situation you don’t like, you want to get out of it – and we want to get out of it.

“For that we have to make steps. Tonight we made big steps, not the final ones but we made steps and that’s for the moment OK.”