Nothing is straightforward for Manchester United at the moment. Not holding on to a three-goal lead against Coventry City, and not even beating a Sheffield United team heading for relegation back to the Championship.
Three days after their Wembley wobbles almost cost Erik ten Hag’s side a place in the FA Cup final, they were at it again last night. Twice they trailed to a club seven points adrift at the foot of the table with the worst defensive record in Premier League history.
Where would they be without Bruno Fernandes? The United captain pulled his side level at 2-2 and then scored the decisive goal in the 81st minute before setting up a fourth for Rasmus Hojlund.
That’s eight goals in the last eight games for a man who has been ever-present for United while everyone around him have been dropping like flies. Incredibly, Fernandes hasn’t missed a game through injury for the club during an Old Trafford career spanning more than four years.
But he can’t keep doing it on his own. His heroics papered over the cracks of another unsteady United performance against a team who can hardly be described as stellar. When he scored his first goal from the spot just after the hour mark, the Blades broke Derby’s record of conceding 89 goals in a 38-game Premier League season.
For United – Manchester, that is – this was the ideal fixture to get over the trauma of tossing away a three-goal lead against Coventry at the weekend, then surviving a penalty shootout to reach the Cup Final against Manchester City next month
