“Too soft” – Bruno Fernandes opens up on Man City goal and Man United dressing room mood

Bruno Fernandes has explained that the Manchester United dressing room is “down” after their FA Cup final loss against Manchester City on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday afternoon saw Manchester City defeat Manchester United in dominant fashion as an Iklay Gundogan double trumped Bruno Fernandes‘ penalty to secure the FA Cup trophy.

It was a fixture that could have seen Erik ten Hag win his second trophy of the season, however, it was Pep Guardiola’s men who saw victory and keep their treble hopes alive.

Speaking to BBC Sport after the fixture, Bruno Fernandes detailed how the Manchester United dressing room felt after full-time.

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“Everyone is down, it’s really difficult. We wanted to end the season in a different way,” Fernandes explained. “It wasn’t possible, but we’re aware we’ve made the right steps for the future next season. It’s not a successful season overall but it’s good.

“We now have to look forward to getting our batteries back, come next season and understand it’s still a long way to get into the position to win better trophies and bigger achievements. We came back into the game.”

One moment that really set the tone for the fixture was the opening goal – after just 12 seconds, Gundogan blasted the ball past David de Gea and into the next to set a record for the fastest goal ever scored in an FA Cup final.

“We started in a really bad way and in the first half, we had some really good spells on the ball,” Fernandes continued. “After we scored, we had some more chances where we could have scored again. In the second half again, we concede an early goal, an amazing goal by Gundogan.

We still had some chances to score, but we didn’t and City were good winners. The first goal was probably too soft, too much space in the middle, yes, but it was an amazing goal. Obviously, if someone was tighter on him (it might have been prevented).

“But you have to give credit to him. It’s two amazing goals with his left foot by an amazing player. I’ve said in the past he’s one of the best midfielders in the Premier League and he’s won the game for City today.

“They have been great all season, they deserve a different result today. The disappointment in the dressing room is also because we couldn’t give the fans what they deserved for supporting us. We are really grateful.”

Manchester United will look to get over this defeat and prepare for the summer as the club sale moves towards its completion and the transfer window opens.