Bruno Fernandes, captain of Manchester United, scored the game-winning goal with a magnificent volley on Saturday in the Premier League encounter against Burnley. With the win, Erik ten Hag’s squad snapped a three-match losing skid across all competitions.
At the very last second of the first half, the Portuguese player finished with a first-time shot after getting on the end of a precise ball from Jonny Evans and beating the goalkeeper for Burnley, James Trafford.
Although Burnley had plenty of opportunities of their own and were unlucky to go down at the half, United’s Evans had previously had a goal disallowed for the team.
The second half was much more easy for the away team, as Burnley’s patient play failed to produce any opportunities that were easily converted.
United moved up one spot in the rankings to eighth position after earning nine points through their sixth game thanks to their third win of the season.
Burnley is currently in last place in the table, with one point after five games and the worst goal differential.
Ten Hag has been under increasing amounts of criticism ever since his team suffered successive league losses to Arsenal and Brighton & Hove Albion, as well as Wednesday’s high-scoring loss away at Bayern Munich.
But when he needed his captain to set a good example for the rest of the team, Fernandes came through with a moment of greatness that got United back on track.
Evans, whose earlier header was ruled out for offside following a VAR review, floated the perfect cross forward over Burnley’s defense, and as the ball fell, Fernandes hammered a right-foot volley that flashed into the goal. Evans’s header was first ruled out for offside.
Evans, who was 35 years old at the time, had just returned to the club on a one-year agreement over the offseason and was making his first start for United since 2015. It was a fantastic moment for Evans, who was making his first start for United since 2015.
In an interview with TNT Sports, Evans said, “This club, if you’re not winning games, you’re going to be under fire.” Some of the younger players haven’t been through it yet, but I hope that I can bring some composure to the situation when I go in. We can only hope that this will serve as a springboard for future endeavors.
United undoubtedly needed to be firm in order to withstand some severe pressure from Burnley early on, as stated by the manager Ten Hag, and his squad had showed a great deal of team spirit.
Andre Onana, the goalkeeper for United, made an outstanding early save to prevent Zeki Amdouni’s header from going in. Onana’s error against Bayern Munich the previous week lost United the game.
After that, Amdouni seemed to be in a good position to score after receiving a ball from Aaron Ramsey, but his shot hit the post in the far corner.
When Evans’ header from Sergio Reguilon’s ball was ruled out for offside, it seemed as if United’s good fortune had run out.
However, Fernandes responded to the request to ensure that the away supporters returned to their homes with a grin on their face.
“We know that we have been in a difficult bit of momentum but we knew that we could come back from it,” Fernandes added. “We know that we have been in a tough bit of momentum.” “Today’s performance was obviously not the best, but we were still able to secure all three points, which is the thing that matters the most.”