Bruno Fernandes criticises referee after costly penalty miss

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes criticised referee Chris Kavanagh for not apologising after mistakenly bumping into him when the Portuguese midfielder was about to take his penalty in the first half against Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday.

Fulham defender Calvin Bassey brought down Mason Mount and the referee decided to award United a penalty after looking at the VAR. However, Fernandes failed to grab the opportunity as he rocketed the ball above the goalpost.

Fernandes said the collision with the referee did put him off before he took the penalty, but admitted it is not an excuse to miss the chance.

Fernandes said after the match, “I was upset. As a penalty-taker, you have your own routines, your own things that you do.

“It upset me because the referee didn’t apologise. That is what triggered me in that moment, but that’s not an excuse for missing the penalty.

“I had a very bad hit on the ball. I put my foot too much under the ball and that’s why it ended up going over the bar.”

The match ended in a 1-1 draw after Rodrigo Muniz scored an own goal, whereas Emile Smith Rowe equalised in the 73rd minute after spending only 90 seconds on the pitch.

“We cannot be satisfied with one point,” Fernandes said.

“We came here to win the game. We were defending very well, but in one of them they got their goal.

“For us, it is very disappointing to not win the game today.”

United is yet to win their first match of the season as they suffered a 1-0 loss against Arsenal in their season opener. Ruben Amorim’s team will next take on Grimsby Town in the second round of the EFL Cup at Blundell Park on Wednesday.