Bruno Fernandes missed his second penalty of the season at the weekend as Manchester United lost against Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Manchester United suffered a 3-1 defeat to Brentford on Saturday afternoon, with controversy surrounding a key second-half decision.
Coming off last week’s win over Chelsea, United made a disastrous start and were 2-0 down inside 20 minutes. Ruben Amorim’s men paid the price for early mistakes but found a way back into the contest when Benjamin Šeško struck midway through the first half.
After the interval, the visitors showed little urgency, though they were given a lifeline in the 70th minute as Bryan Mbeumo was brought down in the box by his former teammate Nathan Collins.
While the penalty was unquestionable, there was debate over whether Collins should have been dismissed, given he made no attempt to play the ball. VAR checked the incident but chose not to recommend an on-field review to referee Craig Pawson.
Bruno Fernandes’ penalty was saved after a prolonged delay, and Brentford sealed victory with a third goal late on.
What Fernandes said about changing his United penalty technique
Fernandes had to wait around five minutes before he could take his penalty but it was once again a disappointing effort from someone who is usually so reliable from the spot.
He has now missed two important penalties so far this season, and on both occasions he has opted against his hop, skip and jump technique.
Alongside Jorginho, the United captain made that penalty style popular and he had an excellent record from 12 yards using that exact run-up.
Fans are wondering why Fernandes has changed his approach, but he has already explained the reason behind the adjustments, even if they are proving to be unsuccessful at the moment.
“When you take so many penalties, then you need to change, because the goalkeepers start looking at you, studying you,” Fernandes told club media earlier this year. “So as they do that, I do the same as them. I study them.
“I see all the different penalty-takers that they have against them. I see what is the accuracy of them. I feel more comfortable doing the jump and waiting for the goalkeeper to make a decision. I think this is the more accurate one. But if I have to change it, I do it differently, to not give anything away to them.”
United need change soon
United simply were not good enough against Brentford, and they didn’t deserve anything out of the game regardless of the penalty.
It feels like the last year under Amorim has been one step forward and two steps backwards constantly.
Fernandes’ biggest problem at Brentford was that he could barley get into the game. He was too busy helping United build as the deepest midfielder to do anything in attack.
Something big needs to change at Old Trafford, but seeing Fernandes bringing back the hop, skip and jump wouldn’t hurt either.
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