Tim Sherwood has ripped into one thing he saw from Bruno Fernandes that he didn’t like amid Manchester United’s 1-0 Premier League loss against Chelsea.
Manchester United recorded their 18th Premier League loss of the season on Friday night, falling 1-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge after Marc Cucurella’s well-taken header sealed the points for the hosts.
Rúben Amorim’s side looked to take control early on, with Harry Maguire finding the net inside the opening stages—only for the goal to be ruled out for a narrow offside. The rest of the first half was largely uneventful, with both sides struggling to create clear chances.
United came out stronger after the break and carved out a handful of early openings, but it was Chelsea who struck with 20 minutes to play as Reece James delivered a perfect cross for Cucurella to head home.
Despite United’s attempts to respond, Chelsea managed the closing stages well and held on for the win, moving back into the top five. United now shift focus to their Europa League final clash with Tottenham next Wednesday.
Sherwood left very unimpressed by Fernandes
During the tie, striker Rasmus Højlund received a lot of flak from fans. The Danish striker failed to register a single shot and had the fewest touches of any player to play 90 minutes, with just 26 to his name.
But, the fans were not the only ones to get increasingly frustrated with the forward, with club captain Bruno Fernandes also becoming visibly infuriated with the striker’s continued lack of availability.
However, former Premier League boss Tim Sherwood was not impressed with Fernandes’ behaviour, slamming him for not holding back with some of his actions and gestures on the evening in London.
“He tries his best, he runs around for the shirt, you can’t fault his effort, but you can fault his ability and his confidence at the moment,” Sherwood told Premier League Productions of Højlund.
“Bruno was getting so frustrated with him, he’s the captain of the club, but some of his actions towards him, I didn’t agree with that, the boy is struggling for confidence, but you can understand the frustration.”
Keane believes “magic” Fernandes can win the Europa League
Despite Sherwood’s comments, former United midfielder Roy Keane explained on Sky Sports after the result that he feels Fernandes is the one player with the “magic” who can get United over the line when they face Tottenham.
“You still have to fancy United, someone like Bruno can produce, the history of Manchester United still carries a little bit of weight,” Keane said when asked who he thinks will win the final.
“There’s not much between them [in the league] but come the crunch, come the final, United’s history in finals, them winning cups the last few years.
“You’d like to think they would have a bit more knowledge around the game than Spurs. That might edge it for them, and I think Bruno can produce that bit of magic.”
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