Bruno Fernandes saw red as Manchester United suffered a 3-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon.
The Red Devils have now failed to win in three successive matches and have only picked up seven points from their opening six Premier League matches.
Erik ten Hag‘s side started incredibly slowly against Spurs at Old Trafford and were immediately punished by Brennan Johnson’s goal in the third minute.
There was no response from United, who continued to play poorly after going behind. Things then went from bad to worse when Bruno Fernandes was sent off for a challenge on James Maddison.
United’s 10-men were unable to stop Ange Postecoglou’s side after the break and Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke added to Tottenham’s lead.
READ MORE: Five things learned from Manchester United’s 3-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur
Bruno Fernandes red card vs Tottenham
Fernandes has struggled for form this season and there were even fans wanting Fernandes to be dropped ahead of the Tottenham clash after his disappointing performance against Twente.
Ten Hag kept faith with his captain and named him in the starting lineup, but Bruno Fernandes endured a horrible 40 minutes before being sent off by referee Chris Kavanagh.
It was a controversial decision as Fernandes clearly made contact with Maddison, but appeared to slip before the challenge – which in itself didn’t look that bad.
However, VAR decided not to send Kavanagh over to the monitor and opted to stick with the on-field decision.
Fernandes is now set to miss three games for United due to his suspension.
Bruno Fernandes shares what James Maddison said
After the full-time whistle, Fernandes spoke to the media and revealed that even Maddison agreed it wasn’t a challenge worthy of a red card.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Fernandes said: “Even Maddison when he gets up, you can see in the image.
Fernandes then shared the 11-word message Maddison said on the pitch – “He just said ‘it is a foul but it is never a red card’.”
“That’s what he said. I think the eyes of everyone can see it is never a red card.
“Because if that is a red card, I think we have to look at many other incidents, I have had many incidents when I get kicked and I have never seen something so quick [resulting] in a red card. I just think it’s never a red card.
“For me, it is a foul, if he wants to give me a yellow because it’s a counter attack – I agree. But I don’t understand why VAR doesn’t call the referee to the screen.”
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/bTZgvaW