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Manchester United were beaten by two goals to one by Manchester City at Wembley in the FA Cup final today.
Volleys from Ilkay Gundogan in either half were enough to hand Pep Guardiola’s men victory against the Red Devils and keep their treble dreams alive.
Bruno Fernandes scored United’s goal from the penalty spot after Jack Grealish was adjudged to have handled in the area by VAR.
United had 40% of the ball to Man City’s 60% possession. The Reds registered 13 shots, with three on target. Man City had 11 cracks at goal. Five required David de Gea to intervene.
Fernandes had what can only be described as a Jekyll and Hyde performance.
In certain phases of the game, he was good, but in others, he fell below the usually high standards he has set for himself.
He started on the right side of the attack before Christian Eriksen’s substitution in the second half saw the Portuguese playmaker restored to his favoured playmaker role.
Fernandes had 56 touches of the ball.
He was superb creatively, as is usually the case. He made three key passes.
Defensively, the Portugal international won four tackles. He also won an impressive five of the eight ground duels he delved into.
On the other hand, some aspects of the midfielder’s game were wanting to say the least.
He only managed to deliver 27 of his 42 passing attempts, managing a pass accuracy of only 64%.
Fernandes tried to cross the ball four times. Only one of his crosses reached its intended target.
The United captain struggled aerially. He was required to contest three challenges in the air – he lost all three. He lost the ball 18 times and was dribbled past twice.
(Stats obtained from Sofascore)
Fernandes’s goal against City was his 14th of the season.
Bruno Fernandes stats in the last six seasons 🔴✨ #MUFC
2017-18: 16 goals, 18 assists
2018-19: 32 goals, 18 assists
2019-20: 27 goals, 22 assists
2020-21: 28 goals, 17 assists
2021-22: 10 goals, 14 assists
2022-23: 14 goals, 15 assists pic.twitter.com/Dye4mWpyQf— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 3, 2023
Despite not impacting the game against Man City in the same way he usually does, it’s undeniable that he’s had a superb campaign.
