Bruno Fernandes’ reaction says it all as Man Utd suffer Grimsby Carabao Cup humiliation

Manchester United endured a disastrous start to the Carabao Cup second-round clash at Grimsby, with the League Two side taking a shock 2-0 lead – and Bruno Fernandes was in disbelief

Bruno Fernandes couldn’t hide his disbelief as Manchester United endured a disastrous start to the Carabao Cup second-round clash at Grimsby. The Red Devils captain started on the bench, with Ruben Amorim opting to give Kobbie Mainoo a chance to start.

But the Premier League giants suffered humiliation in the first-half, with their League Two opponents taking a shock 2-0 lead. First, it was Charles Vernam who fired home to open the scoring for the hosts.

Fernandes was stunned at his side conceding and TV cameras spotted him with his head in his hands. Things got worse, though, with Tyrell Warren making the most of a mistake by Andre Onana – who was also given a rare start amid uncertainty over his future – to tap home with just 30 minutes on the clock.

Manager Amorim is under increasing pressure after a miserable start to his spell at Old Trafford. He has accumulated just 28 points from 29 top-flight fixtures since succeeding Erik ten Hag last November.

United splashed £200million on a new forward line during a summer rebuild but have begun the 2025-26 campaign in inauspicious fashion by picking up a solitary point from their opening two fixtures.

The Red Devils finished 15th last term – their worst Premier League campaign – and club record goalscorer Wayne Rooney recently said Amorim has “no excuses” for underperforming this season and could soon be fighting to save his job.

“There are no excuses now for the manager this season,” the 39-year-old said on his BBC podcast, The Wayne Rooney Show.

“He’s got to start getting results and getting results quickly because once you start getting into October, November, if results don’t change drastically then that’s when pressure comes.

“United really needed to hit the ground running this season and one point from six is a worry. It’s only two games into the season but the worrying sign is we’re seeing things that we saw last season and that’s a concern.”

Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo arrived in big-money deals to refresh United’s attacking options.

Yet the 20-time English champions, who lost the Europa League final to Tottenham in May, were beaten 1-0 at home by Arsenal on the opening weekend of the new season before missing a penalty and surrendering a lead in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Fulham.

Asked if Amorim is the right man for the long term, Rooney replied: “It’s difficult to sit here and say, ‘yeah 100 per cent’ – I don’t think anyone could do that.

“I don’t think Ruben would probably say that himself with what we’ve seen since he’s been at the club.

“I think the recruitment has been good in the summer – I still want to see two or three more players brought in.

“But it’s difficult (to say), ‘right, this is going to be our manager for the next five years’ on what we’ve seen.”

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