Thursday 14 August 2025 11:42
It is universally acknowledged that Bruno Fernandes is one of the best penalty-takers Manchester United have ever had.
The Portugal international has worked so hard on his technique from the spot and calmly despatched two during Tour 2025, presented by Snapdragon.
It may have been early on in the games against West Ham United and Everton but he made it look almost effortless when beating Alphonse Areola and Jordan Pickford from 12 yards.
Back on home turf, in the shootout win over Fiorentina, again he could be relied upon to find the net with our opening spot-kick.
There will have been no great surprise among Reds supporters: the skipper is as cool as a cucumber and radiates supreme confidence in such situations.
But is he our best in the Premier League? The stats still suggest otherwise.
Opta have pointed out that Fernandes has scored the most penalties in the division for the club.
His tally of 22 exceeds the mark set previously by Ruud van Nistelrooy and then all-time leading scorer Wayne Rooney.
PREMIER LEAGUE PENALTY GOALS
1. Bruno Fernandes – 22
2. Wayne Rooney – 20
3. Ruud van Nistelrooy – 18
4. Eric Cantona – 14
4. Cristiano Ronaldo – 14
6. Marcus Rashford – 8
7. Denis Irwin – 7
7. Paul Pogba – 7
9. Robin van Persie – 6
10. Louis Saha – 4
When it comes to sticking the ball in the net from the spot, Bruno is top dog, but this is not the case when analysing the success rate.
Cantona and Ronaldo also both have excellent reputations with their penalty prowess and the legendary no.7s share the honours here, according to Opta’s research.
Their records are identical, scoring 14 out of 16 in the division.
PENALTIES SUCCESS-RATE IN PREMIER LEAGUE
1. Eric Cantona – 14/16 = 87.5%
1. Cristiano Ronaldo – 14/16 = 87.5%
3. Bruno Fernandes – 22/26 = 84.6%
4. Ruud van Nistelrooy – 18/22 = 81.8%
5. Marcus Rashford – 8/10 = 80%
6. Wayne Rooney – 20/28 = 71.4%
7. Paul Pogba – 7/11 = 63.6%
Please note that a minimum of 10 penalties had to be taken by an individual to be featured in this table.
We know that our captain loves a challenge and, if he was to succeed with his next six spot-kicks in the league, he would join Cantona and fellow countryman Ronaldo at the summit.
As he will have achieved this percentage by taking double the amount of attempts, it would surely be enough to crown him as our penalty king.
It is also worth pointing out Fernandes has converted a lot of penalties in other competitions too. For instance, his last four were in the Europa League (barring the friendlies), and each was scored.
Furthermore, he has never missed in a competitive game outside of the top flight for United. His last failure from 12 yards was in December 2023, against Chelsea, when Chelsea’s Robert Sanchez pulled off a brilliant save.
So best of luck for the new season, Bruno, and let’s hope you can prove you are, indeed, the club’s finest penalty-taker.
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Thursday 14 August 2025 11:42
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