Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes says he was “upset” referee Chris Kavanagh did not apologise for bumping into him ahead of his penalty during the 1-1 draw at Fulham, but insisted the official was not to blame for him missing.
Fernandes skied his first-half spot-kick moments after colliding with the official when he had started his routine.
The score was 0-0 at the time, with United going ahead in the second half through Rodrigo Muniz’s own goal before Emile Smith-Rowe earned a point for Fulham.
🗣️ "It upset me because the referee didn't apologise"
Bruno Fernandes said he was triggered by the referee before missing a penalty against Fulham ❌ pic.twitter.com/J358sq7xBU
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The Portugal midfielder said on Sky Sports: “I was upset. Obviously, as every penalty taker, you have your own routines.
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“You have your own things that you do. It upset me because the referee didn’t apologise, and that was what triggered me in that moment.
“But that’s not the excuse to missing the penalty. I just had a very bad hit on the ball. I got my foot too (much) under the ball, and that’s why the ball went over the bar.”
Boss Ruben Amorim admitted that the missed penalty, controversially awarded after Calvin Bassey was adjudged to have hauled down Mason Mount at a set-piece, affected his skipper’s performance.
It was an uncharacteristic miss by the Portugal midfielder
It was an uncharacteristic miss by the Portugal midfielder(Adam Davy/PA)
Amorim added: “I think he’s not used to missing a penalty.
“He knows the importance that every moment in this context, can have a huge impact in the team.
“And I felt that during the game, he was like, not so happy, not so involved, because he has so much responsibility.
“And I think he felt that missed penalty, it was huge for us.”