Manchester United dispatched Istanbul Basaksehir 4-1 in the Champions League last night, in a much needed strong reply to their 1-0 defeat in the reverse fixture.
Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring early in the game after shooting an absolute rocket into the back of the net 7 minutes after kick-off. The Portuguese midfielder managed to add to his tally on the night to double Manchester United’s lead 20 minutes in.
Marcus Rashford’s early 11th minute goal was discarded for offside. And despite being on a hat-trick, Fernandes unselfishly let Rashford take the spot kick 35 minutes in to take the hosts 3-0 up ten minutes before half time.
The numbers themselves prove that Fernandes has been absolutely phenomenal since moving to United. The 26-year-old has been involved in 34 goals in his 35 appearances for United. 21 of those are goals, and 13 are assists.
12 of those goals have been from penalties. Fernandes has only missed one penalty for Manchester United, against Newcastle United in the Premier League.
No other Manchester United player has been involved as much in goal contributions as much as Fernandes. He was key to United’s third place finish last season and his keeping up the great form this season as well.
“I felt first half we saw the intent straight away, they wanted to play and they enjoyed it,” he told BT Sport. “It’s a Champions League night at Old Trafford, you’d expect them to enjoy themselves. We scored some very nice goals, I’m pleased.”
Edinson Cavani and Donny Van de Beek also featured in the Red Devils’ win over Istanbul. However, they were not as influential as 27-year-old Alex Telles who joined the club from Porto.
The left back has played less than half of the minutes available in the Champions League, and yet managed to create more chances than any other Manchester United player. His contributions will surely provide fans with a lot of hope regarding this season, going forward.
