Erik ten Hag slams “pathetic” treatment of Man United player after Nottingham Forest win

Erik ten Hag has slammed the “pathetic” treatment of Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes after FA Cup victory against Nottingham Forest.

Fernandes, 29, was a doubt for the game beforehand but managed to pass a fitness test to start at the City Ground.

It was an underwhelming overall performance from the United captain, who looked like he was struggling at points, but he would go on to assist Casemiro’s winning goal in the last stages of the game.

Ten Hag has accused Nottingham Forest players of “targeting” the United no.8 and also labelled those who have been criticising the midfielder on social media as “pathetic”.

He told reporters: “You saw, Forest were targeting him. I don’t say what it is (injury), but it was a serious injury.

“Social media criticise him. It is pathetic. He has a very high pain threshold. It shows his leadership.”

United will be facing Liverpool in the next round of the cup at Old Trafford, something which Ten Hag described as a “great challenge” after the game on Wednesday night.

“Every win is important. We take it 24 hours and then we move on,” he added.

“This team, what they showed today, that’s great. They have to show it every game. I’ve seen it the last couple of months, not on Saturday. We found the way to win.

“We were consistent. We lost one time in 2024. We are consistent. It’s not so easy when you have the whole backline, and we have to shuffle and play players in different positions. I’m very proud we did it.”