The Portuguese was said to have delivered the set-up for the Uruguayan’s fantastic finish, but revealed after the game that he played no part in it
Bruno Fernandes has admitted that he did not get a touch on Edinson Cavani’s magnificent long-range strike, as Manchester United were held to a draw by relegated Fulham in their first game back in front of fans in the Premier League.
The Red Devils looked on course to deliver a home victory at Old Trafford for their supporters before Joe Bryan netted a late equaliser to hand Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side a hiccup in their Europa League final preperations.
Fernandes was credited for the assist in midfield, seemingly tapping on David De Gea’s delivery near the halfway line for Cavani to blast home from 40 yards – but the Portuguese has now acknowledged that he didn’t feel a thing in the build-up.
What did Fernandes say?
“Honestly I didn’t feel the touch,” the playmaker admitted to Match of the Day after the full-time whistle. “The referee said I touched the ball.
“How it is, I don’t care honestly. I always say the most important goal is the one that hits the net, it doesn’t matter who gets the goal or the assist.
Fernandes also weighed in on the return of supporters, adding: “It was really good [to have fans back]. It’s such a good feeling, you know.
“We know how important fans are to football so it was really nice to have them back. We didn’t give them what we wanted, with the victory.
“We pressed a lot. You shoot, you try and the ball doesn’t go in but sometimes that happens. We’ll put our heads down and focus on the next game.”
Parker left perplexed by wondergoal
Cottagers manager Scott Parker was left equally flummoxed by Cavani’s screamer, and was particularly irked that VAR did not pick up upon Fernandes’ movements following the Uruguayan’s strike.
“I don’t understand how it’s not offside,” he told Sky Sports. “The fourth official said if Fernandes hasn’t touched, it he’s five yards offside.
“I’ve looked at it back. I can understand if we didn’t have VAR, I get that that goal can be given due to human error, but when you can slow it down and look at the angles, you can see he’s not touched it.
“I thought we were fantastic today. Nothing really different in our performance. We came here today and played like a big team. We had to be courageous.
“It’s a difficult place to come Old Trafford, let alone today with 10,000 fans in. I’m very proud and overall pleased with the performance.”