The ‘game’s gone soft’ crowd were out in full force on Twitter yesterday, and it all has to do with one of the usual suspects – Bruno Fernandes.
The Manchester United midfielder isn’t all ‘Magnifico’ on the pitch sadly, as he’s earned a reputation for taking unnecessary tumbles at the slightest bit of contact.
On occasions, he quite literally creates the contact before dropping onto the turf, he then dramatically winces in pain which boils the blood of essentially every opposition fan.
Manchester United’s Third Round Carabao Cup tie against Aston Villa led to another instance of the Portuguese’s theatrics, and naturally, fans online were livid.
The match itself saw an uneventful first half be followed up by an absolutely thrilled second 45.
Ollie Watkins gave Villa the lead, and almost immediately, Antony Martial levelled things up for the Reds. The visitors got a second through an own goal by Diogo Dalot, after which United rolled in the substitutions.
Fresh legs worked to great effect as United blew Villa out of the water by scoring thrice and confirming their progression into the next round.
Integral to their win was Bruno Fernandes, who was at his disruptive best.
Unafraid of getting face-to-face with the opposition and doing the dirty work when required, United fans online were filled with praise for their midfielder.
But as we mentioned before, others were less enthused, and it all has to do with his ‘coming together’ with Ezra Konsa.
Fernandes lined up outside the box for a United set-piece, with Konsa being his marker. As the ball came in, the midfielder basically rammed into Konsa, before taking to the floor at the first sight of contact.
The center back showed no intention of taking Fernandes out, who quite literally went shoulder-first into his marker.
If you look closely, Fernandes’ hands were raised even before the contact occurred, he was clearly looking for it.
Those familiar with the midfielder will know that this isn’t an isolated incident, the 28-year-old tends to fabricate fouls at will.
However, fans online thought his clash with Konsa was especially egregious, and many even labelled him as ‘the biggest cheater in football’.
On the flip side, United supporters felt that Fernandes was clever in going down, as Konsa would’ve been far too difficult to get past. Fortunately, the incident wasn’t viewed as a foul by the referee, who instead blew his whistle for a different offense.
