It is safe to say that Bruno Fernandes has been the driving force behind Manchester United’s resurgence over the past year or so. And he found himself on the scoresheet once again today with a great volley although the Red Devils could only manage a 1-1 draw against West Bromwich Albion.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side conceded within two minutes of the game but managed to equalise just before half-time. They could not find the winner though, meaning that they dropped two more vital points in the Premier League title race.
As things stand, they are now 7 points behind Manchester City, who also have one game in hand. Meaning the gap could actually be stretched to 10 points easily.
And while nobody can blame Fernandes for the club’s recent poor run of form that has seen them fall behind their crosstown rivals, it does not sound like Solskjaer was too happy with his star man’s positioning against West Brom.
Solskjaer and Fernandes had a disagreement during Manchester United’s draw
As reported by the Daily Star, the player and the manager did not agree when it came to positioning on the pitch. Solskjaer told him to work through the right hand side of the pitch, to which the Portuguese playmaker replied:
"“But the space is there [down the middle].”"
Solskjaer was adamant though that the space through was for Martial to use and reportedly continued to complain about Fernandes’ positioning:
"“That is Antho’s [Martial] space.”"
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This does not make for good reading if you are a Manchester United fan. While there will always been disagreements in football, all this could lead to disharmony at the back. And Solskjaer needs to be especially careful with Fernandes as he has almost been carrying them for quite some time now.
Clearly this was a poor result for the Red Devils, who have dropped 5 of their last 6 points against the bottom two and only came out with a narrow victory against Fulham.
At this moment, they do not look like a side in form and now find themselves level on points with Leicester City. And now, there is a genuine danger that they can slip down the table and get caught in a top four battle if they are not careful.
Hopefully, they will get back in the groove in mid-week, when they take on Real Sociedad in the Europa League.