Bruno Fernandes could have did not encourage Manchester United to a primary win of the season – but it surely’s an apology from referee Chris Kavanagh that he’s searching for.
The 30-year-old blazed over a first-half penalty because the Red Devils were held to a 1-1 draw with Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday.
Emile Smith Rowe rescued a degree for the hosts lower than two minutes after coming on, scoring along with his first touch to cancel out Rodrigo Muniz’s own goal within the 58th minute.
The primary half that was dominated by the visitors, who saw Matheus Cunha hit the post, while he also had an effort expertly tipped across the post by Bernd Leno.
But it surely was Fernandes who spurned the most effective opportunity of the primary period, as his strike within the thirty eighth minute from 12 yards out sailed high and left over the bar.
No player has missed greater than Fernandes’ five Premier League penalties since his move to Old Trafford in February 2020, with it being his first failed attempt since United’s 2-1 win over Chelsea in December 2023.
For Fernandes, he implied that Kavanagh impacted his routine in west London after the match official unintentionally brushed into him.
After placing the ball on the spot, Kavanagh walked behind Fernandes – and without taking a look at the midfielder – gently nudged into him as he looked to get himself in position to examine if any players encroached within the box.
Immediately after contact was made, Fernandes immediately put his arms up within the air towards the referee to point out his frustration.
And while he takes the blame for missing his penalty moments later, he has revealed Kavanagh failing to apologise to him over the incident has saddened him.
What did Bruno Fernandes say about his missed penalty?
Chatting with Sky Sports, Fernandes said: “I used to be upset.
“As a penalty-taker, you’ve gotten your individual routines, your individual things that you just do.
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“It upset me since the referee didn’t apologise.
“That’s what triggered me in that moment, but that is not the excuse for missing the penalty.
“I had a really bad hit on the ball.
“I put my foot too under the ball and that is why it ended up going over the bar.”
As for United boss Ruben Amorim, who has picked up just 28 Premier League points from his opening 29 games in charge, he doesn’t imagine that Kavanagh influenced Fernandes’ miss.
When asked whether his skipper was disrupted by the referee, he remarked: “No, I feel he is not used to missing a penalty.
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“He knows that each moment on this context can have a big impact on the team.
“I felt that in the course of the game he was not so completely happy, not so involved, because he had a lot responsibility and he felt the missed penalty was huge for us.”
While United threw away their lead, they’ve managed to select up their first point of the campaign following last week’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal.
They can be hoping to return to winning ways away at Grimsby Town within the Carabao Cup on Wednesday, before turning their attention to Burnley of their final game before the September international break.
Because it stands, United have dropped down into sixteenth within the top-flight table with a primary away league victory since March continuing to elude them.