Bruno Fernandes response speaks volumes after Man Utd teammate ignores him
Bruno Fernandes was left frustrated after Manchester United goalkeeper Senne Lammens positioned differently to the captain’s advice before Marcus Tavernier’s goal in the 4-4 draw
Bruno Fernandes was left seething with Senne Lammens after the Manchester United captain instructed the young keeper to shift closer to his near post moments before Bournemouth’s second goal.
The 31-year-old Portuguese midfielder bagged a spectacular free-kick and provided an assist as Ruben Amorim’s men battled to a thrilling 4-4 stalemate at home against Bournemouth. It proved to be an electrifying encounter that delivered drama in spades on the red half of Manchester.
What caught the eye of numerous supporters was Fernandes attempting to guide Lammens towards his near post just seconds before Cherries’ ace Marcus Tavernier whipped in a fierce low free-kick. Tavernier’s rasping set-piece nestled in precisely the spot Fernandes had warned Lammens to guard.
Just before the strike, Fernandes spun round to face his goalkeeper and gestured frantically towards Lammens’ post. The Belgian decided to ignore the advice. When Tavernier found space between the Portuguese playmaker and Matheus Cunha, Lammens was miles away from the shot.
Fernandes flung his arms skyward in exasperation as Bournemouth players dashed off in jubilation. His body language said it all, clearly indicating his annoyance Lammens had chosen to disregard his guidance.
The incident didn’t escape Michael Owen’s attention either, who was monitoring the match. Owen remarked on Premier League Productions: “Look at Bruno there telling his goalkeeper: ‘Get across, get across! We’ve already got this side of the goal locked off – this is the side of the goal you need to protect’.”
While United dazzled in attack, they left too many openings for Bournemouth to take advantage of. Luke Shaw was dispossessed just before Antoine Semenyo’s first-half goal, while Evanilson and Eli Junior Kroupi found space between United’s defenders to score their goals.
Post-match, Amorim acknowledged his team still has much to improve on. He said: “It does seem [like] a lot of good things, but a lot of things to work [on].
“We are not winning games sometimes in the details. It’s not about because it’s a back four, back three, back five. It’s the details that we need to work [on to] understand the momentum of the game.
“You need to be more clinical, because, again, today it’s against a very good team. We created so many chances to win the game, we should have won the three points.”
He further commented: “We need to find ways of closing the games because this happened many times. That’s part of the process. We try to do things the best we can but in some moments it’s not enough.
“Again, today against a very good team, we created many chances to win the game, and we should have won the three points. The result should be completely different.”
United will be missing Noussair Mazraoui, Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo in the coming weeks as they head off to Morocco for the Africa Cup of Nations.
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