Manchester United produced a scintillating display of controlled aggression as they outclassed Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
This was supposed to be a crucial contest considering the fact that Spurs were seven points in front of United in third place ahead of kick-off with fourth-placed Chelsea to follow on Saturday.
Bruno the Portuguese Magnifico
Erik ten Hag was under pressure to tweak his line-up and include Cristiano Ronaldo from the start while dropping under-performing stars like Bruno Fernandes and Fred.
9 – Bruno Fernandes created nine chances in Manchester United’s 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur, the most by a player in a Premier League game since Bruno Fernandes created 10 against Aston Villa last September. Orchestrator. pic.twitter.com/N9zFof4HDF
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 19, 2022
But he kept his faith in his skipper and the Portuguese delivered and how! He scored his team’s second to ensure full points and was a constant presence both in attack and defence.
The Dutch boss was asked whether he was happy with the 28-year-old’s lack of goals and he had insisted that his all-round play was exemplary and that eventually goals and assists would come.
On Wednesday, every attacking move of note went through the former Sporting Lisbon star and his attacking stats speak for themselves.
According to Opta, “Fernandes created nine chances during the course of the game, the most by a player in a Premier League game since Bruno Fernandes created 10 against Aston Villa last September.”
Quite often, the Portugal international can be guilty of misplacing easy passes and losing possession. That was not the case against Antonio Conte’s team.
ETH will need Bruno to carry on
Fernandes finished with a passing accuracy of 93% as he completed 63 passes while having 89 touches of the ball.
He had 31 final third passes, the most for any player on the pitch while also topping the charts for the most key passes as he completed nine of them.
He also put in three successful crosses, the highest in the match while also completing 90 per cent of his long balls.
His influence was all over the pitch as he also recovered the ball an impressive eight times while making two successful tackles as well.
Fernandes looked close to being back to his best and it further strengthened the notion that the attacking midfielder plays better without his compatriot Ronaldo.
Ten Hag will be hoping for more of the same from his skipper when his team travel to London to face Chelsea as they look to close the gap on the teams above them.
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