Bruno Fernandes fluffs his lines as the United manager again forces square pegs into round holes
Fulham 1-1 Man Utd (Smith Rowe 73′ | Fernandes missed pen 38′, Muniz OG 58′)
CRAVEN COTTAGE — At full-time at Craven Cottage, a rueful-looking Bruno Fernandes was standing alone in the centre circle, hands on hips, deep in thought.
Presumably, the Manchester United captain’s mind was replaying the penalty he skied over the bar in the first half. Or maybe he was reflecting on another game that slipped away as United frittered away precious points.
Similarly to their opening day loss against Arsenal, there were positives for United. They started brightly, catching Fulham off guard with the speed and ambition of their play.
Matheus Cunha, again preferred to £73m striker Benjamin Sesko, could have had a hat-trick after 15 minutes, lashing one shot over, another onto the post and another into Bernd Leno’s midriff after an immaculate piece of control.
Fernandes had a sighter in that early blitz too, stinging Leno’s palms with a long-range strike.
It was the Portuguese’s only shot from open play all game; fewer than five Fulham players, including goalscorer Emile Smith Rowe, who only entered the fray in the 70th minute.
United’s production dipped alarmingly after the initial onslaught, and by full-time, they had created nine chances, as many as Fulham.
Fernandes supplied just one of those, as many as goalkeeper Altay Bayindir.
Alarmingly for United, their goalkeeper is the only player in their squad to have created a big chance, defined as a situation when an attacker is expected to score, this season.
It was not an awful Fernandes performance, but it was ineffective. Fulham will have been happy to see him operating so deep.
Marco Silva’s midfield looked so much more energetic. The tireless Sander Berge and Sasa Lukic alternated shuttle runs as they hunted red shirts.
After Smith Rowe cancelled out the opener, a Rodrigo Muniz own goal from a Leny Yoro header, the home side looked more likely to grab the winner.
“We knew that we would be able to get behind their two midfielders and that their centre-backs would want to jump, we exploited that today,” was Alex Iwobi’s damning assessment.
Fernandes was deployed in central midfield in Ruben Amorim’s fixed 3-4-2-1 formation. By full-time, he had had three different partners: Casemiro, Mason Mount and Manuel Ugarte. The names changed, but the problems persisted.
Afterwards, Amorim admitted he is struggling to find the right combination, yet still Kobbie Mainoo can’t get a kick.
The 20-year-old, who was heralded as United’s future this time last year after starting for England in the Euro 2024 final, has been an unused sub in both of their first two games.
“He is in competition with Bruno,” said Amorim afterwards, a stance that should greatly concern the Mancunian in a World Cup year.
Amorim may require reinforcement in that area, but it is his job to find solutions until someone is signed.
His strategy and system are so entrenched that inevitably, square pegs will be shoved into round holes.
Fernandes made more defensive contributions (13) than any other United player. Amorim’s tactics stifled his most creative player.
Yet his limited impact would have been glossed over had he converted his spot-kick.
Calvin Bassey felt aggrieved at the penalty award, given after a VAR review for an impromptu wrestle with Mount, and the defender celebrated the miss as though he had netted the winner.
Fernandes was as furious with referee Chris Kavanagh as he was himself.
As he paced out his run-up, the captain bumped into the match official, who displayed all the spatial awareness of a drunk uncle on a wedding dancefloor.
The Portuguese was still moaning at Kavanagh before the second half began.
“That put me a little bit off my nerves, but it’s not because of that why I missed the penalty. I missed because I kicked the ball very badly,” Fernandes reasoned afterwards.
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It was a missed opportunity, but not a turning point.
United took the lead anyway, just before the hour mark, with the ball pinballing from Yoro’s forehead and in off Muniz’s back.
Bassey was disgruntled again and more justifiably so, as Yoro had two hands on his back as he met Mbeumo’s corner – a foul by any metric.
Fuelled by a sense of injustice, Fulham grabbed a deserved equaliser, Smith Rowe capitalising upon United indecision to prod past Bayindir from a fine Iwobi cross.
Given the disparity in their summer spending – Fulham’s only arrival is backup keeper Benjamin Lecomte for £500,000 – it was a better point for the hosts than the visitors.
A United player is yet to score a goal this campaign. Positioning their best attacker closer to goal might be worth a try.