Ruben Amorim makes worrying Bruno Fernandes claim as ‘unhappiness’ emerges

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes missed a penalty in a 1-1 draw with Fulham and Ruben Amorim admitted the midfielder was not happy with how the game went

Ruben Amorim said that Bruno Fernandes was unhappy during Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Fulham because he was “not involved” in the game.

The Red Devils captain, 30, missed a penalty in Sunday’s trip to the capital after skying a spot-kick in the first half. An own goal from Rodrigo Muniz eventually broke the deadlock on the hour mark but United were denied all three points by Emile Smith Rowe, who struck in the 73rd minute.

Fernandes has been United’s most influential and consistent player during a turbulent period for the club, who endured their worst ever Premier League campaign last term, finishing down in 15th place.

The Portugal international played as part of a midfield pairing at Craven Cottage rather than a more advanced role and Amorim appeared to admit post-match that his captain was frustrated with his overall involvement.

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“I think he is not used to missing penalties. He knows the importance that this moment can have [and make a] huge impact on the team,” Amorim told Sky Sports. “During the game he was not happy because he was not involved and he has so much responsibility and I think he thought missing the penalty was huge for us.”

On the result, Amorim added: “We can do better but we are putting the effort so that is the most important to me. In some moments we did well, especially in the beginning of the game. After the goal we were just thinking about the result. We were ok until the goal and then we were not smart in that moment.”

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“We have to think about the performance. I know what the feeling is of a player who has to win every match. We missed a penalty, we missed some chances and then we score and we had to defend that goal. We have to focus on our movements and play until the end.”

Fernandes was visibly irked when Chris Kavanagh accidentally bumped into him just before he prepared to take his penalty in the first half. The Manchester United captain refused to blame the incident with Kavanagh for his missed spot-kick but was not happy with the referee’s failure to apologise.

“Yeah, I was upset,” Fernandes told Sky Sports post-match. “Obviously, as every penalty taker, you have your own routines, you have your own 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 missing the penalty. I just had a very bad hit on the ball. I took my foot too under the ball and that’s why the ball ended up going over the bar.”

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