Bruno Fernandes slammed and branded a ‘child’ as Man Utd captain called out

Bruno Fernandes has been accused of acting like a “child” after his penalty miss in the 1-1 draw with Fulham on Sunday, while his Man Utd captaincy credentials have also been called into question

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has been slammed for acting like a “child” after blaming a minor collision with referee Chris Kavanagh for his penalty miss against Fulham on Sunday. The scathing criticism was delivered by former England winger Theo Walcott, who also cast doubt over Fernandes’ suitability to continue as United’s captain – BEFORE United’s embarrassing Carabao Cup defeat to Grimsby Town.

The ex-Arsenal star’s withering attack came after United were handed a spot-kick in their 1-1 draw with Marco Silva’s side at Craven Cottage on Sunday.

After a VAR check, referee Kavanagh awarded the penalty, but then inadvertently collided with Fernandes as the United skipper stepped back from positioning the ball on the penalty spot. The Portuguese midfielder subsequently confessed that the incident had “upset” him as it had disrupted his routine, which later saw him called out for his comments on the incident in the media.

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Fernandes appeared to challenge the official before repositioning the ball and blazing his effort over the crossbar. The 30-year-old was later spotted confronting Kavanagh as both teams returned for the second period, with Walcott believing Fernandes’ behaviour has portrayed him as petulant.

“I look at it like this, it’s a child’s response,” Walcott said on It’s Called Soccer! “Because you’re still trying to teach their mind of how to deal with situations – we’re talking about a child.

“It was a natural child reaction which you would expect and you expect them to keep going on. You know what it’s like with you kids, something happens and they want to keep on going on and you’re trying to manage the situation.

“But he’s a professional athlete who’s the captain of Manchester United football club, he needs to be stronger and blank everything out because you’re playing for the biggest club in the world right now, and if that affects him, the referee bumping him, then they’ve got big, serious issues already.”

Walcott continued: “Get him off penalty duties, get him off the captain’s armband perhaps? Because, for me, if that was another player, you think [Cristiano] Ronaldo is going to? [react the same way] absolutely no chance, do you think Odegaard at Arsenal? [would react the same way] absolutely no chance. Bruno Fernandes’ reaction has really surprised me but it’s got us talking about that instead of the result.”

When asked about the incident, Fernandes told Sky Sports: “Yeah I was upset. [Like] every penalty taker, you have your own routine and things that you do.

“It upset me because the referee didn’t apologise and that was what triggered me in the moment but that’s not the excuse to miss a penalty. I just had a very bad hit of the ball, I took my foot too under the ball and that’s why it went over the bar.”

United boss Ruben Amorim was also asked about the controversy. Amorim said: “He knows the importance that every moment in this context can have a huge impact on the team. He was like, not so happy, not so involved, because he has so much responsibility. I think he felt that missed penalty, it was huge for us.”

Fernandes didn’t start in United’s shock defeat on penalties to Grimsby in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night. However, he came on in the second half of the 2-2 draw and did score twice in the marathon shootout that ultimately saw United’s season go from bad to worse as they were dumped out of the competition.

New signing Bryan Mbeumo missed the final spot kick, which dumped Amorim’s side out. Fernandes’ attributes as captain were on display, though, in the aftermath of the crushing defeat, as he immediately went to Mbeumo’s side to console his team-mate, before escorting him back to the dressing room as fans invaded the pitch.

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