4 tackles, 5 key passes, 6 shots: United powerhouse badly let down by lacklustre team mates in West Ham draw

Manchester United reverted to type and let a lead slip at home to bottom-half opposition against West Ham United. After Diogo Dalot handed the hosts the lead, intensity once again waned and the Hammers grabbed an equaliser to take the air out of United’s sails with a 1-1 draw. Flat performance but not from Fernandes There is no getting away from the fact that the match was another shocker from the Red Devils, and for large swathes of the game they looked off the pace. But as has so often been the case, Bruno Fernandes tried absolutely everything to save the team he captains and made some valuable contributions which on another day could have helped produce a positive result. The Portuguese made a match-leading five key passes and took a huge 102 touches at the beating heart of the team – nobody else took more than 74. He completed 82% of his attempted passes, finding his man with 60 of his attempted 70, bested only by Noussair Mazraoui. That said, he also lost possession 22 times, the joint-highest figure of anyone on the pitch as an industrious West Ham hounded the men in red. Although playing in his deeper role he peppered the goal, hitting the post once and missing one big chance. He got one shot on target, put two wide and had three blocked. Defensive duties done Fernandes dug in defensively, too, and was a crucial part in breaking up the play as West Ham surged into the game. Nobody on either team made more than the 31-year-old’s four tackles, and he wasn’t dribbled past once. On top of this he made three clearances, and his total of seven defensive contributions was bested only by Mazraoui and Casemiro on eight. He was game in the duel, too, winning four of seven on the ground and two of three in the air. PlayerBruno Fernandes Goals0 Expected goals (xG)0.55 Assists0 Expected assists (xA)0.12 Key passes5 Crosses (accurate)8 (2) Accurate passes60/73 (82%) Passes in opposition half (acc.)40/51 (78%) Passes in own half (acc.)20/22 (91%) Long balls (accurate)3/5 (60%) Total shots6 Expected goals on target (xGOT)0.11 Shots on target1 Hit woodwork1 Shots blocked2 Big chances missed1 Offsides1 Touches102 Unsuccessful touches1 Dribbles (successful)1 (0) Possession lost22 Tackles (won)4 (3) Interceptions0 Clearances3 Blocked shots0 Recoveries7 Ground duels (won)7 (4) Aerial duels (won)3 (2) Fouls1 Dribbled past0 It was a desperately poor result, due in no small part to United’s lack of intensity, but it’s fair to say that Fernandes could hardly have done more to inspire his team to a better result. Stats taken from sofascore. Featured image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Joe Ponting Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried. He cut his teeth working in print media for local newspapers and entered football journalism covering the grassroots game for the Non-League Paper. Here he achieved a career high, interviewing United legend Sir Bobby Charlton to get his views on the lower echelons of the football pyramid. To kill time during international breaks Joe writes album reviews and has strong views on post punk for Plus One Magazine.