Bruno Fernandes’ dissatisfaction with the referee revealed as his deeper midfield role fails miserably! Manchester United’s only real threat surprisingly comes from their goalkeeper.

Despite just two seasons in the Premier League, certain facts are obvious: Manchester United have no realistic shot at the title this season and face difficulty securing a top-four finish. Maybe, as Ruben Amorim mentioned, their objective is to finish in the top six and qualify for European football again.

In the warm sunlight of Craven Cottage, Manchester United supporters grew more and more disappointed, particularly about the midfield area. Captain Bruno Fernandes dropping back into the central midfield of a 3-4-3 formation, as many predicted, turned out to be a major failure.

Early in the first half, Bruno Fernandes took a penalty that was controversially awarded but struck the ball well over the crossbar. This sparked thousands of memes on social media, with some amazed spectators watching the ball fly through the night sky like a shooting star.

The 30-year-old Portuguese ironman blamed referee Chris Kavanagh for colliding with him during his retreat, which disrupted his rhythm when taking the penalty. Bruno also said Kavanagh never apologized for disturbing his run-up, leaving him quite upset.

“I was very angry at the time,” Bruno said, “because the referee didn’t apologize, which made me furious. Obviously, every penalty taker has their own rhythm and routine. This isn’t an excuse for missing the penalty; I just didn’t execute it well.”

There may be two real reasons behind Bruno’s dissatisfaction with the referee: first, he had a prior conflict with Kavanagh. In last season’s match against Tottenham, this referee controversially sent Bruno off with a red card, which was later overturned.

Another reason might be that playing deeper in midfield made Bruno uncomfortable. Coach Amorim said after the match, “I think he’s not used to missing penalties. He knows every moment can hugely impact the team. I sensed he wasn’t happy or fully engaged during the game because he carries so much responsibility. Missing such an important penalty hit him hard.”

Manchester United’s midfield line was disastrous; Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro were easily bypassed, with Bruno failing to track Smith Rowe’s runs before losing possession. Other teammates fared no better—Amad Diallo repeatedly lost the ball, and Patrick Doğu showed recklessness without wisdom. This created an uncomfortable, all-too-familiar feeling.

Behind them, Luke Shaw reached his 200th appearance, prompting questions about why Manchester United still rely on him. In the final moments, Fulham sliced through United’s defense effortlessly, like a knife through butter.

An astonishing statistic showed that Manchester United’s only significant open-play chance came from goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, whose long pass in the first half found £62.5 million signing Cunyha, whose shot was saved by Fulham’s goalkeeper, Leno.

Fans were naturally displeased: “After spending over £200 million on attacking players, Manchester United still need their goalkeeper to create chances.”

Amorim clearly expressed dissatisfaction with his team’s attack: “Sometimes we push the ball to the wings too early, making it easy for opponents to mark us. We always want to apply pressure, and the players try, but sometimes you have to perform better in the moment, understand the game, try to drop back a bit and intensify pressing. As a result, Fulham had more space on the counterattack.”

The Manchester United coach believes that after taking the lead in the second half, the team lost focus on their style and instead aimed to protect the one-goal advantage, which caused mental issues.

Regarding how to improve, Amorim replied, “Through training and learning from matches. You need to win to feel relaxed—not in terms of match intensity or style, but in maintaining mindset. We ended up under pressure because Fulham’s goal shifted the momentum of the game.”