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Sunday 23 February 2025 14:00
Bruno Fernandes’s sublime free-kick against Everton proved pivotal in engineering Manchester United’s second-half comeback on Saturday and also helped our captain achieve a very impressive record.
The no.8 steered home a free-kick in the 72nd minute to reduce the deficit and it was followed eight minutes later by midfield colleague Manuel Ugarte’s powerful drive for his first goal for the club as the spoils were shared in a 2-2 draw.
Bruno’s effort was his 10th goal of the campaign, which was significant as he has now reached double figures in both goals and assists – of which he has 12 this term – in each of his full seasons for United in all competitions.
90 in 20: Everton v United Video
90 in 20: Everton v United
EXTENDED HIGHLIGHTS | Watch the best of the action from a game of two halves at Everton…
Last term, he netted 15 times and directly set up 13 goals. No United player scored more Premier League goals than his 10 – the same number that Rasmus Hojlund netted, although the Danish striker was our leading goal-getter in all competitions with 16.
In the 2022/23 campaign, Bruno was on the scoresheet on 14 occasions and registered 13 assists for his team-mates. He was second in our goalscoring charts in all competitions – behind only Marcus Rashford who struck 30 times.
Our Portuguese magnifico scored 10 times and also had another 13 assists to his name in 2021/22. His goals tally that season across every competition was only bettered by his compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo, who was on target on 24 occasions.
Bruno’s most fruitful campaign for goal contributions was his first full campaign at Old Trafford, when he notched a magnificent 28 goals – 18 of which were in the Premier League – as well as 18 assists to be our top goalscorer in 2020/21.
Not only that, even before he arrived at United, the midfielder has double digits for both goals and assists in every campaign since 2017/18 – stretching back to his time at Sporting.
In total, Bruno has now scored or assisted 167 goals for the Reds to date – netting 89 times and setting up 77 for team-mates in 271 appearances.
Against the Toffees on Saturday, Fernandes had 20 more touches than any other player, according to data by Oracle, which once again highlighted the playmaker role he has for United. He touched the ball 109 times altogether, as well as completing 64 passes – 23 of which were in the final third.
His brilliant set-piece conversion past Everton keeper Jordan Pickford started the spirited comeback to ensure we didn’t leave Goodison Park for the final time empty-handed.
In doing so, Bruno became the first United player to score directly from a free-kick in the Premier League since his Portuguese team-mate Ronaldo, against Norwich City in April 2022.
“In the second half, we stuck to our ideas and played with much more freedom and movement,” said Bruno in his post-match interview.
He was also honest about the improvement required, telling TNT Sports: “We have to do more, me first. Everyone has to lift the standards of each other and end the season in the best way possible.”
Ruben Amorim praised his skipper and also outlined his significance after the game on Merseyside.
“He’s really important, in any position that he plays,” our head coach explained. “He is the guy that can, sometimes in the hardest moments, hold the ball and that is really important for the team. He is a leader, he scored the first goal and helped us get a point.”
Our fans also noticed his contribution as the midfielder earned 58 per cent of the votes to top our Man of the Match poll.
Bruno’s influence will continue to be key in the coming weeks of a campaign which could still end with silverware for the Reds, who welcome Kieran McKenna’s Ipswich Town to M16 on Wednesday night before facing Fulham in the Emirates FA Cup fifth round next Sunday.
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Sunday 23 February 2025 14:00
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