Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes gave a definitive response when questioned about his team’s tactical setup during their 3-0 defeat to Manchester City.
City Cruise Past United as Haaland Strikes Twice and Foden Shines at the Etihad
Manchester City eased to victory at the Etihad Stadium, with Phil Foden opening the scoring before Erling Haaland sealed the result with a clinical brace.
Foden’s header came early on after he was left unmarked in the box, punishing United’s slack defending. Haaland then capitalized on a poor pass from Luke Shaw, charging the length of United’s half to double City’s lead. The Norwegian had already squandered a chance to score earlier, when Manuel Ugarte’s under-hit back pass forced Matthijs de Ligt into a mistake that gifted him the ball.
United, meanwhile, struggled to gain any foothold. Bruno Fernandes, deployed deeper alongside Ugarte, had minimal impact in attack. His defensive role limited his influence, leaving United short of creativity going forward.
The defeat heaps further pressure on manager Ruben Amorim, who remains without back-to-back league wins since his appointment last December.
After the game, Fernandes fronted up to the media, admitting United were well below par. Speaking to Sky Sports’ Patrick Davison, he said:
“What we did today was not enough to get the result, and that’s all we can take from this game. We need to score goals and not concede—that’s the main thing in football. We keep creating chances, but we’re not finishing them. We also need more control in certain moments. We gave away three goals that were avoidable.”
When pressed on whether City’s game plan was to overwhelm United’s midfield, Fernandes pushed back:
“No, because we play with a back five—or sometimes a four or three, whatever you want to call it. We just need to be more aggressive in pressing. If we don’t commit in those moments, the midfield gets overloaded.”
For City, it was another statement performance. For United, it was another reminder of how far they still have to go.
Speaking after the defeat, Fernandes broke down United’s struggles against City’s midfield dominance:
“If you look at City, they had Rodri, Tijjani [Reijnders], Bernardo, and Foden—so effectively a midfield four against our two. That means the players behind us need to step up and press, like Luke [Shaw] did well on Tijjani. We managed it in the first game against Arsenal, which is why they couldn’t play through us then. It’s about making the pitch smaller against a team that presses so aggressively. If you’re not brave enough to do that, they’ll always find space, because they’re top-quality opponents.”
Despite admitting the result was “very bad,” Fernandes insisted there were positives in United’s display:
“The goals were avoidable on our side, but on the ball we were positive and brave, always trying to play forward. When we created chances, we just needed to be a bit cleaner. But in the end, that doesn’t matter—you don’t get anything for that. We wanted what City got: three points.”
