The Football Association have overturned Bruno Fernandes‘ three-game suspension after the Man United captain was wrongfully dismissed during the Manchester club’s 3-0 defeat to Tottenham on Sunday.
The Red Devils and their manager Erik ten Hag endured another tough day at the office against Spurs as the Dutch coach’s team put in a very underwhelming display in front of a packed Old Trafford crowd.
United were dominated in the first half of the clash and things were made worse with halftime on the horizon as their captain Bruno Fernandes saw red for a tackle on James Maddison.
The Portugal midfielder was sent off by referee Chris Kavanagh for a high tackle on the Tottenham star but it was clear that the midfielder clearly slipped on the wet surface before catching the England international.
The decision caused a bit of a stir in the aftermath of the contest but the FA have now overturned the Man United captain’s three-game ban as they believe he was wrongfully dismissed.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the FA said: “Bruno Fernandes will be available for Manchester United’s next three games following a successful claim of wrongful dismissal.
“The midfielder was sent off for serious foul play during the Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, September 29.”
Bruno Fernandes’ availability is a big boost for Erik ten Hag and Man United
The Tottenham defeat has left Man United 13th in the Premier League standings after six games and the pressure has mounted on Ten Hag after an underwhelming start to the 2024/25 campaign.
The upcoming games against FC Porto and Aston Villa could determine the Dutch coach’s future at Old Trafford and the former Ajax boss will be happy to have his captain available for selection for the trip to Birmingham, despite the Portuguese star performing below-par so far this season.
Fernandes has yet to score for Man United during the current campaign and this week would be a good time as Ten Hag seeks some relief.
It’s hardly a flipping boost when one of the most neglectful players so far this season is given a reprieve, dammit.
Why ETH persist with players who are out of form – Bruno and Rashford aren’t much better than Casemiro this season, awful – wrecks my head, especially when Amad is forced to warm a bench. I was hoping to see Zirkzee sit deeper in place of Bruno with Amad and Garnacho on the wings.
Can someone who interviews these players ask them if they’ve watched any premier league matches in the last few years, because it looks like they don’t know what the game involves.
ETH (or any manager since Fergie) can’t be on the pitch with them holding their hand and desperately whispering sweet anythings in their ear to get a response. No one should need a man manager to give themselves motivation: you either have pride in yourself and what you do, or you don’t. This lot would happily throw each other under the bus by not tracking players, or making half arsed tackles and having hissy fits. They’re not a team, certainly not worthy of calling themselves a Utd one.
Can someone who interviews these lads ask them if they’ve watched any team above them play recently, because I’m not convinced they have. If they did they’d know the minimum effort required in terms of closing down, chasing back, making tackles instead of standing around like limp fnuggets pretending to be ballers.
I haven’t been this annoyed about Utd players since 1974, when even a returning George Best couldn’t save them.