Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes wore the captain’s armband once again versus Everton, with Harry Maguire out of the team, this time through injury.
The Portugal midfielder stepped up just as United needed him to, with a real performance after last week’s disappointing derby loss.
Fernandes was poor against City, and he wasn’t alone. In this tricky away game at Goodison Park, he was excellent.
Fernandes creates most chances
Fernandes created more goalscoring opportunities than any player on the pitch, with three.
Remarkably he still has just one assist this season, but it wasn’t through lack of trying at Goodison on Sunday.
Fernandes was directly involved in United’s first goal, pouncing on a poorly controlled ball from Gueye just inside Everton’s half, and setting up a counter attack.
His alertness and direct pass into Anthony Martial led to the Frenchman slipping Antony in, to score United’s opening goal.
He was unlucky not to score
Fernandes has not had much luck in front of goal either this season, scoring only once. He thought he had doubled this tally in the first half, before his strike was ruled out.
The midfielder saw his goal disallowed as Cristiano Ronaldo was offside earlier in the move.
Nonetheless, Fernandes’ effort showed he is on the right track, and the goals will come soon. What mattered on Sunday was the three points, along with the performance.
It was Ronaldo who scored the winner, and Fernandes hailed him after the game. With both players beginning to click, United are well placed to start kicking on and putting another run of wins together.
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