Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has revealed he was left “upset” after referee Chris Kavanagh failed to apologise for an incident that disrupted his penalty routine during Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Fulham.
The midfielder missed a golden opportunity to give United the lead in the 38th minute when he blazed his spot-kick over the bar.
Fernandes claimed Kavanagh had accidentally brushed into him just before the attempt, something he felt unsettled his preparation.
Speaking after the match, Fernandes told Sky Sports:
“I was upset. As a penalty-taker, you have your own routines, your own things that you do.
“It upset me because the referee didn’t apologise. That is what triggered me in that moment, but that’s not the excuse for missing the penalty.
“I had a very bad hit on the ball. I put my foot too under the ball and that’s why it ended up going over the bar.”
Despite Rodrigo Muniz’s own goal putting United ahead in the second half, substitute Emile Smith Rowe equalised for Fulham within two minutes of coming on, denying Ruben Amorim’s side their first win of the season.
Amorim, however, downplayed Fernandes’ claim that the referee had influenced his miss.
“No, I think he’s not used to missing a penalty,” the manager said. “He knows that every moment in this context can have a huge impact on the team.
“I felt during the game he was not so happy, not so involved, because he had so much responsibility and he felt the missed penalty was huge for us.”
United, who lost to Arsenal in their opener, collected their first point of the Premier League campaign but remain winless after two games.