Manchester United duo Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes featured in Portugal’s 3-1 win over Poland in the Nations League on Saturday afternoon.
Both players have been heavily relied on by Erik ten Hag this season as the Dutchman attempted to keep hold of his managerial job at Old Trafford.
Remarkably, Diogo Dalot has started every game for United this season under Ten Hag and Bruno Fernandes is not far behind with his only substitute appearance coming in the 7-0 win over Barnsley.
It seems their run of games might have taken a toll on performances, however, with Fernandes struggling for form with back-to-back red cards against Tottenham and Porto. Dalot was also criticised for a “criminal” performance against Tottenham.
However, they were not afforded a rest on international duty this week after being named in the starting lineup for Portugal against Poland.
Diogo Dalot and Bruno Fernandes display vs Poland
Portugal maintained their 100 percent record in the Nations League with a dominant display against Poland on Saturday evening.
Bernardo Silva opened the scoring and United legend Cristiano Ronaldo doubled their lead. Poland fired back through Piotr Zielinski, but a late own-goal by Jan Bednarek secured three points for the visitors.
United fans all made the same point about Fernandes after his Player of the Match performance against Poland. The Red Devils captain was not dragged down by his poor club form as he put on a superb display.
Diogo Dalot has been filling in at left-back for United but he returned to his natural right-back position for his nation.
He ended the match with 77 touches, a 92 percent pass accuracy, four interceptions and was not dribbed past once.
Portuguese media react to Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot
It was a fantastic evening for the United duo, and they were quickly praised by Portuguese media.
Portuguese outlet O Jogo gave Dalot a 6/10 rating and wrote: “Defending, he was the right-wing centre-back, closing down his side well. In the build-up, he combined with Pedro Neto and was the first to test the shot, in the 9th minute.”
The same outlet gave Fernandes a 7/10, adding: “With a header, he assisted Bernardo. Just one of the many good combinations between the midfielders. He was one of the team’s links. Ronaldo’s goal was missing.”
READ MORE: Bruno Fernandes shows how highly he rates Maxi Oyedele with gesture after Portugal vs Poland
The praise continued with Abola, who rated Dalot 7/10 and said “Balanced. There are only two full-backs who can defend/attack in the same way, with identical performance.
“He started with a huge shot (9′) that was saved by Skoruspsi, a well-measured pass to Ronaldo (54′) that almost ended in a goal, defensively very consistent.”
They also gave Fernandes a 7/10 rating and wrote: “Suspicious. He’s not in the best of times in Manchester , but he returned to his best form in this game. He ran, fought, searched, assisted Bernardo Silva for the goal but he lacked that ‘killer instinct’ that takes him to the top.”
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