Manchester United have benefited from Bruno Fernandes’ all-round impact for the team since he joined in 2020. In particular, his penalty kicks.
Bruno Fernandes is an all around superstar for Manchester United, finishing 2024/25 as the team’s top goal scorer and assist leader, with 19 of each.
Scoring penalties is one of the many strings to Fernandes’ bow, with his trademark hop and skip from the spot frequently sending goalkeepers the wrong way.
In fact, there are fewer more reliable sights in football than seeing Fernandes step up from the spot. Taking in the data from his first five-and-a-half seasons at Old Trafford since joining the club in 2020, let’s dig a little deeper.
Bruno Fernandes’ penalty conversion rate for Manchester United
Bruno Fernandes‘ first ever Manchester United goal was a penalty, scored at home in a win over Watford in February 2020.
He immediately took over as the club’s go-to penalty taker, showing his leadership that saw him eventually become club captain.
Excluding penalty shootouts, which are not logged in the same way, Bruno Fernandes’ total penalty record for Manchester United between 2020 and September 2025 is as follows:
- Scored: 39
- Missed: 6
- Conversion rate: 86.6 per cent
How many penalties Fernandes has scored each season
There was one season for Manchester United where Bruno Fernandes did not score a single penalty kick.
This was the 2021/22 season, where Cristiano Ronaldo took over as penalty taker, and the two that Fernandes did take, he missed.
| Season | Penalties scored by Bruno Fernandes |
| 2019/20 | 8 |
| 2020/21 | 13 |
| 2021/22 | 0 |
| 2022/23 | 4 |
| 2023/24 | 6 |
| 2024/25 | 7 |
| 2025/26 | 1 |
Goalkeepers to save from Bruno Fernandes, and last time he missed a penalty
The last time Bruno Fernandes missed a penalty was in September 2025 against Brentford, when his shot was saved by Caoimhin Kelleher.
Prior to the 2025/26 season, Fernandes had scored his previous 11 consecutive penalties for Manchester United.
Prior to this it was December 2023 against Chelsea. Fernandes’ penalty was saved by Robert Sanchez.
He is one of three goalkeepers to actually save a penalty from the United star, the other being Karl Darlow for Newcastle in late 2020.
The other two misses came when Fernandes hit the post against Arsenal in 2022, and in 2021 he missed the target against Aston Villa, and in 2025 versus Fulham.
Bruno Fernandes’ career penalty conversion rate
During his career, Bruno Fernandes has taken 68 penalties, scoring 61. He has an impressive conversion rate of 91 per cent.
- Scored: 62
- Missed: 8
- Conversion rate: 88.6 per cent
Speaking this past season, Fernandes says he keeps mixing up his techniques to keep goalkeepers guessing – and also explains that he studies goalkeepers too.
“When you take so many penalties, then you need to change, because the goalkeepers start looking at you, studying you.
“So as they do that, I do the same as them. I study them.”
How many of Bruno Fernandes’ Manchester United goals have been penalties
Scoring penalties is an art Bruno Fernandes has mastered, but it is not one he relies upon to score goals for the club.
Fernandes has scored 98 goals for Manchester United, 60 non-penalty goals and 38 from the spot. To break that down, 38.7 per cent of Fernandes’ goals for Manchester United have been penalties.
To place this into further context, if you take away penalties and count only Fernandes’ 60 other goals, he has netted more times in a Manchester United shirt than the following impressive cast of players – who may include penalties in their tallies…
- Javier Hernandez (59), Robin van Persie (58), Dimitar Berbatov (56), Juan Mata (51), Roy Keane (51), Teddy Sheringham (46), Romelu Lukaku (42), Paul Pogba (39), Andrei Kanchelskis (36).
Include the penalties and Fernandes is into the upper echelons of Manchester United’s scorers, currently the 24th highest of all time, seeking to join the 22 legends who have reached 100 goals or more – Bryan Robson was stuck on 99 goals.
On the way Fernandes has recently overtaken the likes of Anthony Martial (90), David Beckham (85), Eric Cantona (82), and Dwight Yorke (66).
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