Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and after witnessing an impotent Manchester United slip to a dismal 3-1 defeat at Aston Villa at the weekend, supporters got a reminder just what their side are missing when Bruno Fernandes is missing.
Pretty much an ever-present since arriving on our shores in January 2020, Fernandes’ performances this season, even though he remains as the United player with the most chances created, have drawn criticism, as he hasn’t been able to match the heroics from his debut season in Manchester.
United needed a nudge as to the 28-year-old’s worth, and that is what happened at Villa Park, and then again at Old Trafford on Thursday. One sumptuous assist and the match-deciding strike to help knock Villa out of the Carabao Cup, even when played out of position on the right flank, showed there is one Portuguese magnifico in this part of town still capable of dragging the club towards a brighter future.
To say the first half was a turgid affair does not quite cover it, with a Diogo Dalot header which was defected over and a Ashley Young volley that fizzed over as close as either side came.
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Donny van de Beek, starting for the third game in a row in midfield, had five fewer touches than United goalkeeper Martin Dubravka in the opening 45 minutes, which tells you just how anonymous the Dutchman was.
Thankfully for all in attendance, there was more action in one second half minute not long after the interval than the entirety of the first half.
Ten Hag was eager to get across the message that United must learn their lessons from Sunday’s poor showing in the league clash with Villa, but just as was the case on Sunday, one rudimental pass cut through the hosts’ backline far too easily from Jacob Ramsey, with Ollie Watkins calmly lofting the ball home, with what was the away side’s first meaningful attack.
It was just the jolt the game needed, with even the most laissez-faire of forwards Anthony Martial bursting into life to equalise, less than a minute after United had fallen behind. It was all in the squared pass from Fernandes into the Frenchman’s path – weighted as light as a feather, with the most pinpoint precision. Martial could not miss.
The baffling turnaround in intensity from one half to the other continued as the pendulum swung once more, with Young, on his old stomping ground, clipping a cross to the backpost that was begging to be headed home, Leon Bailey nodded it back across goal, with Dalot inadvertently diverting the ball into his own net from underneath the crossbar.
Marcus Rashford then was sent through on goal but he could only flash a strike wide, but as has been the case for the reborn England forward for much of the campaign, he kept coming, levelling things up with a goal he would not have scored last season.
The Rashford from last season, shorn of confidence and the target of fans’ ire, would have long given up battling for the ball, with his determination rewarded with his eighth of the campaign already in front of the Stretford End. He got the standing ovation he deserved later in the match, capping a fine day after his World Cup callup for the hometown hero.
The mistakes started to creep in late on, with Villa caught in possession by United, substitute Alejandro Garnacho playing in Fernandes, who poked home, via the back of Tyrone Mings. It was just the luck the Portuguese’s all-action display deserved.
It was a goal celebrated with real vigour by a player who knows just how important, on his day, he can still be. Scott McTominay’s late fourth put the icing on the cake for United, but the hard yards, once more, had been done by Fernandes.
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