Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes was in action as Portugal kickstarted their Qatar World Cup campaign against Ghana.
Alongside Diogo Dalot and at the time United striker Cristiano Ronaldo, Fernandes was called up by Fernando Santos and the Portugal boss started the playmaker in their opening game of the tournament.
Fernandes played in his preferred number 10 role but was often switching with Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva and Atletico Madrid’s Joao Felix.
The United man was crucial in Portugal’s 3-2 win against the Black Stars.
Fernandes, in what was a masterclass creative performance from him, registered two assists. One was for Joao Felix’s goal and the other for Rafael Leao who came in as a substitute.
The 28-year-old had 66 touches of the ball to his name.
Fernandes was excellent in his passing, successfully completing 48 of the 51 passes he attempted to make, with an impressive success rate of 94%.
In the win against Ghana, Fernandes made three key passes.
He also successfully pinged five out of the six long balls he tried to ping to his teammates – a mark of his remarkable technical ability on the ball and passing range.
Fernandes created two big chances and made a single cross.
The player was also superb defensively and needed to be so as Ghana proved threatening and dangerous in certain instances of the game, especially towards the end.
He won four out of his eight ground duels and 100% of his battles in the air.
Fernandes also made one crucial clearance. Certainly, United fans will be pleased that their magnifico is performing well on football’s biggest stage.
Stats: sofascore.com
