Bruno Fernandes has come under fire this week in England for his perceived gamesmanship, with Premier League side Fulham joining in the online ridiculing of the Portuguese midfielder after the teams met last weekend.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has leapt to his captain’s defence, insisting that Fulham should apologise and that the story led to Fernandes being targeted by Nottingham Forest during Wednesday night’s FA Cup match.
United were surprisingly beaten 2-1 at Old Trafford by Marco Silva’s impressive Fulham last Saturday, with the Cottagers fully deserving of the three points. Following the game, a video was widely circulated online of a grounded Fernandes appealing for a free-kick while United were in possession, before rising to his feet and demanding the ball.
Fulham’s official TikTok account shared the video with humorous music playing over the images, leading Ten Hag to accuse the London club of inappropriately contributing to the negative perception of Fernandes. “It's not right, a club has no right to do such a thing, it's completely wrong,” said the Dutchman. “They should apologise for that. Bruno is an intense player; he creates a lot of opportunities and the opponents look at him as a target. I think the referee should have defended him at that moment.”
🗣 "It is absolutely not right that a club makes such a statement. Totally out of order and wrong. They should apologise for this."
— The Sportsman (@TheSportsman) February 29, 2024
🔴 Erik ten Hag has asked Fulham to apologise after posting a TikTok mocking Bruno Fernandes after their 2-1 win at Old Trafford over the weekend.… pic.twitter.com/06Q4LFpekM
United’s next match saw them make the trip to Nuno Espírito Santo’s Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup on Wednesday evening. United progressed to the quarter-finals thanks to an 89th-minute winner by Casemiro, which was assisted by Fernandes’ free-kick delivery.
After the game, Ten Hag claimed Fernandes was increasingly becoming an easy target for opposition players, owing to the image of the Portuguese being promoted. "You saw Forest was targeting him, I'm not going to say what he has but it's a serious injury and seeing how serious it was, they criticise him on social media and it's pathetic and can't be.
"He has a serious injury, but he continues to play on Saturday [against Fulham], he fought to be part of this game. He has a very high pain threshold, last year he did something similar at Spurs and the semi-final and it shows his leadership and that is very good when you are a leader, it flows into the team."
Fernandes has not missed a match for United through physical problems in two years but is considered a doubt for Sunday’s derby against European champions Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
By @SeanGillen9
