Sayan Chatterjee
Frustrated Bruno Fernandes sends a message to the Manchester United defence after Everton shocker
Bruno Fernandes has vented his frustration on his team’s defenders after Manchester United were held to a 3-3 draw by Everton at Old Trafford on Saturday night.
The Red Devils stormed into a 2-0 lead heading into the half-time interval, thanks to Edinson Cavani’s headed opener followed by a sensational strike from Fernandes.
However, the hosts were pegged back early after the restart as Abdoulaye Doucoure and James Rodriguez took advantage of some generous defending to make it all square inside just six minutes.
Scott McTominay’s header in the 70th minute put United in good stead to come away with three points but Dominic Calvert-Lewin struck in the final minute of stoppage time to ensure that both sides shared the spoils.
And Fernandes has taken a slight dig at the club’s leaky backline on a night where Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side dropped two crucial points in the title race. Speaking to Premier League Productions (h/t Mirror) after the game, the 26-year-old said:
“I think we gave away the result, we gave away the game twice.
“Because after being 2-0 up at half-time, coming into second half in the way we did, it’s really bad.
“We are conceding goals every game, we are conceding goals a lot of times and at home, we concede too many goals.
“It doesn’t matter how. You concede two goals and you come again and you score again.
“It’s impossible to concede another goal again, from a free-kick in the half of the pitch, we concede a goal from there and the way we concede.”
Indeed, it’s hard to argue against Fernandes, especially after he registered his 13th league goal of season with a world-class strike from outside the box this weekend.
The defenders at the club haven’t quite been as consistent, so the influential playmaker is well within his rights to demand more from this teammates at the back.
United also need to improve on their poor defensive record at home. The Red Devils have conceded 18 goals in 11 league fixtures at Old Trafford so far this season, including a 6-1 humiliation against Tottenham back in October.
The draw against Everton has left Solskjaer’s side five points adrift of pace-setters Man City, who still have a game in hand to build a healthy lead in the title race.
