Story by Matty Hewitt
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has given supporters a scare ahead of the Manchester derby after he was spotted seemingly limping as he left Old Trafford last night, following the resounding victory over Sabah FK on their Champions League comeback. Michael Carrick’s team secured a 4-0 triumph with goals from Matheus Cunha, Fernandes, Benjamin Sesko and Lisandro Martinez to dispatch the Azerbaijan outfit.
United thoroughly deserved their victory, though fitness worries emerged post-match when a supporter shared a video of Fernandes appearing to limp as he departed the stadium. The Portuguese midfielder was filmed leaving the ground alongside United personnel, moving gingerly as he waved to fans before heading home.
Fernandes completed the entire 90 minutes in the Champions League fixture, with t
Nevertheless, the footage understandably raised alarm bells among supporters, with United returning to action this weekend when they face bitter rivals Man City in the Manchester derby at Old Trafford. With local pride on the line, United will be desperate for Fernandes to be fully available and at peak performance.
Carrick described the Sabah victory as the ‘perfect’ Champions League return, but is demanding his team maintain their momentum, having collected four points from their opening three Premier League fixtures.
Michael Carrick’s side ran out 4-0 winners© Getty Images
Speaking following the final whistle, he said: “We’re always pushing for more. Results-wise, it hasn’t been the start we wanted.
“We wanted to have more points in the league but performance-wise there’s a lot of things in there that we were looking for and we’ve been pleased with.”
“And there’s certainly things to improve, you know. I think a clean sheet tonight was important for us.
“We’ve conceded goals in different ways – one goal is in the top corner and sometimes you can do things about it, sometimes you can’t to a point.
“But I think collectively as a team we’ve done a lot of good things, and that’s why we’re kind of excited about what the season brings, and not game-to-game so much of getting too carried away.
“We want to keep progressing through the season, we want to keep pushing.
“There’s slightly different things happening in the team now that we probably didn’t have last season, in a good way, that we’re trying to get out of the players, and they’re showing that in a good way, so it’s really encouraging for me.”
