Bruno Fernandes has been heavily scrutinised recently despite his bold performances for Manchester United
Rio Ferdinand has leapt to Bruno Fernandes’ defence following Manchester United’s 4-1 win over Real Sociedad in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League round of 16. The 30-year-old midfielder fired the Red Devils to glory at Old Trafford on Thursday night, netting a hat-trick.
Mikel Oyarzabal put the visitors ahead inside the opening 10 minutes, beating Andre Onana from 12 yards. A few moments later, United were also awarded a penalty; Fernandes pulled one back for Ruben Amorim’s side to level proceedings.
The Portugal international scored his second spot kick of the tie shortly after half-time to give the Red Devils the lead. Then, as Real Sociedad pushed for an equaliser, Fernandes completed his hat-trick and Diogo Dalot added his name to the scoresheet in the final minutes.
United waltzed away from the tie 5-2 victors on aggregate, securing themselves a place in the quarterfinals where they’ll play Olympique Lyonnais. After the game, Ferdinand paid tribute to Fernandes on Instagram.
The Red Devils legend leapt to the club captain’s defence, having recently faced criticism from Roy Keane. Ferdinand said: “Bruno is our problem they keep telling us… @brunofernandes8 aka captain! #manchesterunited.”
Speaking on The Overlap podcast last month, Roy Keane got into a heated argument with Ian Wright about Fernandes. The former United captain said: “Save us? They’re 15th in the league and he’s saving them? Praise the lord. You have to have a starting point. I go back to it all – talent is not enough. Bruno’s a talented player, but talent’s not enough.”
Wright attempted to defend Fernandes, but his comment further angered Keane, who added: “You talk to me [about] who you were in a dressing room with. ‘Tony Adams was this’, ‘Tony Adams was that’. Yeah, because he was a fighter. Bruno’s not a fighter.
“You’ve got young players. You have to look at somebody and go ‘I like what he does’. They all can’t put the ball in the top of the net from 25 yards, I get that. But you want someone who is going ‘lads, are you with me?”‘
Wright argued that United would be in the bottom three of the Premier League if they didn’t have Fernandes – and suddenly red mist descended on Keane. The Irishman shouted: “Yeah, yeah, of course. That’s the captain we expect!
“Was Tony Adams the most talented player in that Arsenal dressing room? So, why do you look up to Tony Adams and go ‘listen, I’ve got a lot of time for him’? And what did he do with his leadership? Leadership is action. Leadership to me is about action.”
