Tag Archives: Bruno Fernandes

Bruno, Cavani and Pogba Run Rampant against Roma; Man Utd on the Verge of European Final AFter Destroying Roma 6-2

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Man Utd are on the cusp of finishing off Roma and playing in the Europa League final after an inspiring performance from Bruno Fernandes, Edison Cavani and Paul Pogba.

Man Utd won 6-2 on the night and scored five goals in the second half, Bruno had two goals as well as Cavani, Pogba scored on a header and Mason Greenwood probably finished off the tie late in the game.

The goals were obviously great but the passing was amazing. Cavani was so good holding the ball up, Pogba was taking players on and finding his teammates at will and Bruno pulled the strings as the playmaker and made smart runs in the box.

Bruno’s first goal was brilliant, the run from Pogba, the one touch pass from Cavani while holding off the defender and a clever finish from Bruno to chip the goalie from close range, the perfect start for united.

Man Utd’s energy levels were evidently high. Their relentless pressing helped create chance after chance for Man Utd.

Another beautiful moment between the three for the second goal, Pogba released Cavani who held the ball up well and found Bruno, he played it back to Cavani and finished smoothly in the top hand corner.

In the 67th minute the cameras panned to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who encouraged his team to keep the pressure high, and they did.

The high press created counter attacking opportunities for Roma but they were so overwhelmed by Man Utd going forward that the two goals they did score are pretty meaningless in the long run.

A tap in from Cavani, a Bruno penalty, Pogba’s header and the best pass of the game from Cavani found Greenwood on the counter to round out the rest of the goals on the night.

This performance has me begging Man Utd re-sign Edison Cavani immediately.

Manchester United showed too much respect for AC Milan and it cost them the win

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Manchester United drew with AC Milan 1-1 in the first leg of the Europa League Quarterfinals Thursday night in a clash of European greats.

Amad Diallo looked to have sealed a win with his first goal but a Simon Kjaer header off a corner in the 92ndminute rescued a draw for Milan and gave them a valuable away goal.

Milan looked the likeliest to score in the first half as they passed the ball around with ease, breaking Man United’s press a few times and creating some decent half chances because of it.

In the 8th minute Anthony Martial set himself up nicely after he took a ball off his chest well, his left footed shot was pushed over comfortably by Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Controversy struck in the 11th minute after Franck Kessie looked to have scored a beautiful goal, only to have it ruled out by VAR. The handball call was dubious and Manchester United looked to have gotten away with one.

Manchester United should have went ahead in the 38th minute. Bruno Fernandes flicked on an Alex Telles corner to the back post, only to have Harry Maguire miss a sitter.

It should have been 1-1 at the half. Milan were clearly the better side despite not having many of their key players.

The second half started bright for Manchester United, and were probably the better side overall in the half. Bruno Fernandes was fouled after a nice turn on Soualiho Meite.

United took the free kick quickly and Bruno found Amad in the box after the 18-year-old made a splendid diagonal run behind Fikayo Tomori. The finish was even better, Amad scored on a beautiful no look header that easily beat Donnarumma.

Milan had decent half chances throughout the game and could have tied after Rade Krunic got infront of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, but Krunic missed badly on the header.

United should have put the game to bed in the 72nd after Mason Greenwood played in Daniel James. James could not redirect the cross into an open goal, another sitter missed on the day. 

Milan leveled in the 92nd minute after Kjaer beat United to the near post. Dean Henderson did not have much to do on the day and could only get a hand on the header.

A draw is probably fair for both teams but Manchester United definitely would feel disappointed for giving up a goal at Old Trafford. The tie is still wide open despite Milan scoring.

Manchester United really could have put more of a stamp on the game, they let Milan pass around them at times too easily.

The Milan side that was fielded was not that impressive on paper, Kessie was amazing on the day, but he is a known commodity, besides Kessie no one scares you. Donnarumma is the only great player but can only do so much as a goalie.

Milan are managed well and they game planned well, United have the talent to outplay Milan at the San Siro in a week.

Manchester United Player Ratings

Every player starts with a 5.

The Man of the Match is a close one. I would have to go with Bruno Fernandes because of his pass to Amad but Eric Bailly played really well defensively, if Manchester United kept a clean sheet even though goal should not be blamed on Bailly, I would be more inclined to award him MOTM. Bruno will do.

GK- Dean Henderson: 4.5, Nothing really to do all night and when he had an opportunity to be a hero, he floundered. Henderson should have done better on the header.

RB- Aaron Wan-Bissaka: 5.5, AWB had some good tackles early in the game, but was poor with the ball, had some bad passes and got caught out of position a couple of times. Probably got subbed off because of fitness restraints.

CB- Eric Bailly: 7.5, Easily Man United’s best defender on the day. Bailly was marking Rafael Leao all game and dealt with the young striker’s pace extremely well. Had a great tackle on Calabria in the box that could have led to a chance. Bailly did not really put in a foot wrong the whole game. 

CB- Harry Maguire: 5, The captain did not have much to do all game. Playing in more of a sweeper role with Bailly playing the stopper, and marking Leao, Milan, not being hyperbolic did not play in a single long ball. There might have been a couple, so Maguire was not able to flex his talents as much defensively. SHOULD HAVE SCORED. Might be a miss of the season contender, was worse than James’s sitter.

LB- Alex Telles, 6: Played well enough for not playing much all season. Telles put in some dangerous set piece balls. Had a good defensive header on a Diogo Dalot cross that would have likely ended up with a Milan chance.

CM- Scott McTominay: 6, Lucky not to be sent off for a second yellow in the 83rd minute. McTominay had some good line splitting passes and some okay tackles, but was pretty passive in the second half especially being on a yellow card.

CM- Nemanja Matic: 5.5, Matic was pretty poor in possession, usually electing safer passes and when he did pass forward, he would often miss his target. Played decent defensively and had some good tackles, being able to go the full 90 was a plus.

CAM- Bruno Fernandes: 7.5, Should have had two assists if not for Maguire, but had a good game, always willing to get on the ball and find a pass. Would probably like to see him do more around the box and get some shots off. Brilliant pass to set up Amad for the goal. Subbed of in the 73rd.

LW/LM- Daniel James: 4, Probably the worst player in red on the day. James deserves a start, he is always willing to run and work, but today was not his day. He missed a sitter and was getting shredded in defensive duties by Davide Calabria. He had some pretty poor passing as well. 

ST- Anthony Martial: 4.5, Martial got subbed off for a reason at half time. Besides his chance that he did well to create, he was hardly seen. When United did have the ball in the Milan half, Martial would not try and get on the ball. In possession he hung around the shoulders of the Milan defenders way too often. Him going to the ball and trying to hold it up will allow Bruno to get into more dangerous areas around the box and create more opportunities. 

RW/RM- Mason Greenwood: 5, His only moment of the game was when he played in Dan James, he should have had an assist. Looked lethargic at times, was not tracking back when on the wing. Diogo Dalot was able to get into dangerous crossing positions because of it in the first half. Mason played better centrally when Amad came on, needs to go at the ball more like Martial. Needs to know when to use his pace, he had opportunities to run at defenders and did not, might be slightly injured.

Substitutes:

Amad Diallo: 7, Other than his goal, he looked lively, willing to get on the ball. Amad had some decent hold up plays for his age. The 7 is probably generous, but that goal was not a normal goal for a 18-year-old winger to finish. 

Luke Shaw: N/A, Shaw, Williams and Fred were all brought in at the same time, the 74th minute, all players did not see much action. Shaw saw some, as Milan were really pushing down the right, Shaw had some decent moments.

Brandon Williams: N/A, Just stood there mostly.

Fred: N/A, Ran around a lot. Had an opportunity in the 91st minute to play a ball more into the corner but elected to try and play in Greenwood. The pass was cut out and Milan were able to drive and get a corner. Time could have been wasted and United hold in Milan for the final two minutes.

A Change In formation Can Fix Recent Goal Scoring Woes For Manchester United

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Manchester United have now gone three games in a row without scoring a goal and it seems like forever ago since the four goal thrashing of Real Sociedad two weeks ago.

Offensively it is not working lately, especially in the league. In two games this season United have 15 goals, those two games against Leeds and Southampton really inflate their goal tally. In 5 games they have 25 goals, nearly half of their goals.

It really is not a recent phenomenon, United have had these offensive inconsistencies all season.

In seven league games this season United have been held goalless, and failed to score in both fixture against Chelsea and Arsenal. The goals are not coming against other big 6 clubs either. No goals in the first fixtures against Liverpool and Manchester City.

False 9 Fernandes

It has been a dismal season for Manchester United forwards, Marcus Rashford is the exception, but more can be expected of him and Edison Cavani has been a decent addition adding 6 goals, but Cavani has been injured and has only started 9 games this season with 9 cameos.

Anthony Martial and Mason Greenwood have been disappointing in the league with only five goals between the two, one for Greenwood.

Due to current injuries by other more forward minded midfielders like Donny Van De Beek and Paul Pogba, United can not add someone to the midfield to free up Bruno Fernandes. If they were fit, Solskjaer can deploy Fernandes as the false 9.

The 4-2-3-1 has been utilized by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer most of the season, the formation is seen as more of a defensive formation with two defensive midfielders, some could argue that Fred and Scott McTominay are not the most natural defensive midfielders. But, they provide cover for Harry Maguire and most of the time Victor Lindelof and help cover the forward minded left and right midfielder.

An extra midfielder could help because Fernandes plays such an advanced role already that United at times are out manned in the midfield.

Fernandes as the 10 is amazing, but there is offensive problem arising because of the formation. The two midfielders do not get high enough quickly to support Fernandes. At times they have, McTominay has upped his goal tally in all competitions and has four league goals. United have struggled at times breaking down the opposition between the lines. When they have they look unbeatable.

In a 1-0 loss to Arsenal this season, Solskjaer played a 4-3-1-2 against the London side, when Paul Pogba returns from his injury, it would be interesting to see if Solskjaer will change formations to accommodate the Frenchman or continue the 4-2-3-1 with Pogba in it.

A hybrid 4-3-1-2 and 4-3-3 (False 9), could help Solskjaer get the best out of his best players. It would free up Rashford, Fernandes, Martial and Greenwood of some defensive duties and Cavani off the bench could give a team something different to worry about.

Either way Manchester United must do something to counter act recent offensive woes. A second place finish looked fairly safe a couple of weeks ago, but due to their recent form the rest of the pack have begun to close the gap on Manchester United.

Man United 3 Newcastle 1

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Slow start to the match from Manchester United, the first notable incident of the match was ten minutes in when David De Dea played the ball straight to the Newcastle attack when trying to play out of the United defence, fortunately although this ended up in a shot on the United goal, it went straight over the bar. At the half hour mark in the match with both sides looking evenly matched, Marcus Rashford showed a moment of individual brilliance by beating his man on the wing and driving a powerful low driven shot into the bottom corner to put United on the scoresheet. Shortly after we saw Harry Maguire clear the ball after a Newcastle cross, only to find Allan Saint-Maximin who hit the ball on a half volley and found the back of the Manchester United net. The end of the first half saw both teams leave the pitch drawing 1 all.

The first ten minutes of the second half saw Newcastle dominating the play and pressing high up the pitch. Against the run of play we saw a pass by Matic run across the Newcastle box and onto Daniel James on the right who drove the ball into the Newcastle net to make it his second goal in two games. The first substitution of the game saw Anthony Martial replaced by Mason Greenwood with twenty minutes to go. With fifteen minutes to go Newcastle midfielder Joe Willock fowled Marcus Rashford inside the box to give Man United a penalty. Bruno Fernandes stood up to covert and add another goal to his tally for the season. With two minutes remaining in normal time we saw the second and third substitution of the match, Juan Mata came on to replace Daniel James and we saw Shola Shoretire make his debut for Manchester United when he replaced Marcus Rashford. Shortly after the match finished Man United 3, Newcastle 1.

A good performance by Newcastle tonight and we were lucky to take the three points. I would give my man of the match to Marcus Rashford but notably Daniel James also has a good game tonight.

Real Sociedad 0 Man United 4

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Tonight we saw Man United put out a strong team with some new faces, most notably Daniel James and Alex Telles starting on the left. Eric Bailly also started the match partnering Harry Maguire in centre back. The first big chance of the game came when Marcus Rashford found himself in space in front of goal but only to have his shot saved on the line, the rebound did manage to find the head of Bruno Fernandes but the result was the same. Eight minutes later saw the deadlock broken as Marcus Rashford exploited the space behind the Real Sociedad defence by playing a lobbed ball to Bruno Fernandes, A fumble between the Real Sociedad goalkeeper and defence and Fernandes capitalises by putting the ball in the back of the net.

Twelve minutes into the second half saw Daniel James tap the ball into the path of Bruno Fernandes who found the net for a second time, we then saw the first substitution of the night when Scott McTominay was replaced by Namanja Matic. Four minutes later Fred put a perfectly weighted pass through to Marcus Rashford who placed the ball into the back of the net to make it three. Straight after Daniel James was a denied another due to offside and then we saw the second substitution of the night when Anthony Martial was brought on to replace Marcus Rashford. The last few minutes of the match saw Juan Mata come on to replace Bruno Fernandes and Mason Greenwood give way to give us a first look at new signing wonderkid Amad Diallo. Stoppage time saw Daniel James using his speed to break away from the Real Sociedad defence and put the ball through the goalkeepers legs to grab his first of the night and Man United’s forth.

Altogether a comprehensive win for Manchester United and gives us an easy path through to the next round of the Europa League when we meet Real Sociedad next at Old Trafford. Although we saw a lot of good performances tonight but I would give my man of the match to Bruno Fernandes.