Bruno Fernandes continues to impress during the early stages of his Manchester United career, as the Portuguese midfielder celebrated being named the club’s Player of the Month with another goal in the Red Devils’ clash with Everton on Sunday.
Fernandes came up against compatriot André Gomes in the midfield battle at Goodison Park, which ended in a 1-1 draw after a closely-fought contest. For Fernandes, the goal represented three consecutive matches in which he has found the net, while Gomes continued to look sharp on his first start since returning from injury.
United went behind after just three minutes in embarrassing circumstances for goalkeeper David De Gea, who delayed before striking his clearance against onrushing Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin and seeing the ball ricochet into the net. However, Fernandes spared De Gea’s blushes by levelling after half an hour with a low drive from outside the area that beat Jordan Pickford at his near post.
Fernandes’ goal proved the end of the scoring, although Everton had a potential late winner ruled out by VAR for offside. The match was notable from the home side’s perspective for being the first full appearance of former Benfica midfielder Gomes, who started a match for the Toffees for the fist time since suffering a serious injury against Tottenham in early November.
Fernandes: I can do much better
United star Fernandes was issued the Man of the Match award for his performance, adding to the club’s Player of the Month accolade earned before the game. Speaking to in-house media station MUTV, the former Sporting man said: “It was a difficult game and I think one point can be good, but three points would be better. We played a good game in the first half, in the second half we need to have more of the ball and not give it away.
“Maybe we didn’t play a lot in the second half like we wanted to do but Everton are a difficult team. They have really good players, they have quality. And so football is like this, sometimes what you want to do does not come out.
“My goal? I’m happy that the ball goes in, it doesn’t matter how the ball goes in, importantly it’s a goal. Also, I had some shots outside the box and I can do much better. But obviously the game goes like this and now we need to focus on the game against Derby.”
Finally, Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti was asked about the return of Gomes, replying: "André did a good performance in my opinion. He is going to improve step by step, game by game."
By Sean Gillen
