Manchester United: Bruno Fernandes was anonymous against Chelsea | OneFootball

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Football FanCast

·29 November 2021

Manchester United: Bruno Fernandes was anonymous against Chelsea

Article image:Manchester United: Bruno Fernandes was anonymous against Chelsea

Manchester United earned their first Premier League point of November with a 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge over the weekend.

Interim manager Michael Carrick made the bold call to drop five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo from the starting lineup, and his decision was arguably justified.


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The Red Devils attempted to press in the early stages but soon dropped back behind the ball as the hosts took control of proceedings in a closely-fought encounter.

Chelsea couldn’t find a way through United’s stubborn defence, though, and the game hinged on two pivotal moments.

Jorginho’s miss control from a hoofed clearance allowed Jadon Sancho to race through on goal unchallenged before cooly slotting past Edouard Mendy, before Aaron Wan-Bissaka brought down Thiago Silva in the box, allowing the defensive midfielder to make amends from the penalty spot.

However, things could have been even better for the 20-time English champions if their midfield talisman hadn’t been so sloppy in possession and anonymous in the final third.

Bruno Fernandes had an afternoon to forget in west London, failing to impact proceedings in a positive manner and continuing his recent run of poor form.

As per SofaScore, the Portugal international received a match rating of just 6.3 out of 10, the lowest total awarded to any of his teammates who started the fixture.

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And when taking a closer look at his underlying numbers, it’s easy to understand why. Fernandes failed to have a single shot on target throughout the 89 minutes he was on the pitch, was unable to play a solitary key pass and lost possession a whopping 15 times.

He also lost nine of his 15 duels (60%), made an error leading to an opposition shot and ended the game with a passing accuracy of just 78%, letting Carrick down in the process.

Manchester Evening News reporter Samuel Luckhurst was equally unimpressed with the 27-year-old’s underwhelming showing, awarding a measly three out of 10.

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“Michael Carrick put the wrong Portuguese on the bench. Fernandes’ hoik led to the breakthrough but required assistance from Jorginho,” wrote Luckhurst.

With new manager Ralf Rangnick expected to be formally announced over the coming days, Fernandes will be desperate to return to form as soon as possible, or he could find himself on the sidelines once again over the coming weeks.

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