Bruno Fernandes.

Why Bruno has been the scourge of Everton

Thursday 07 April 2022 14:33

Bruno Fernandes seems to enjoy playing against Everton and the Portuguese magnifico will hopefully be at his best again this weekend.

Our no.18 signed a new long-term contract with the Reds recently and it was his shot that led to Fred bagging the equaliser in the 1-1 draw with Leicester City last time out in the Premier League.

As Ralf Rangnick's men prepare to head to Merseyside for a must-win game for both clubs on Saturday, there is every reason why the Toffees will be fearing the Portugal international in the 12:30 BST kick-off.

Bruno v Everton = six goal involvements Video

Bruno v Everton = six goal involvements

Bruno is a top pick for your United Predictions: he has six goal involvements from four league games v Everton...

Bruno's first clash with Everton came early in his United career, back in March 2020. Indeed, his first goal for the club away from home and from outfield play, and third overall, came in the 1-1 draw at Goodison Park.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin's fortuitous early opener was cancelled out by a long-range strike that skidded past Jordan Pickford. There was late drama when a home goal was rightly ruled out by VAR but Fernandes was a clear Man of the Match for the Reds, for the fourth time in six appearances since signing from Sporting.

In the following season, a November trip to the blue half of Merseyside yielded a 3-1 victory, with Fernandes claiming a double. Once again, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side trailed, to a Bernard effort, but rallied with two goals inside seven minutes to lead. Bruno headed home a Luke Shaw cross in emphatic fashion and although Marcus Rashford failed to connect with a cross later in the half, it ended up in the net.

Deep into stoppage time, the midfielder registered the assist for Edinson Cavani's first goal for the Reds, at the end of a flowing counter-attack.

Video
This strike past Robin Olsen was one of Bruno's best for the Reds.

After a 2-0 League Cup win at Goodison, the home league game at Old Trafford finished in an entertaining 3-3 draw.

The Reds should really have taken maximum points, with Fernandes ensuring a 2-0 lead on the stroke of half-time with a moment of genius. After dummying to let the ball run through to Aaron Wan-Bissaka, he received a pass inside from the full-back and curled an absolute beauty over Robin Olsen. It even won our Goal of the Season award.

Cavani had opened the scoring but quickfire goals by Abdoulaye Doucoure and James Rodriguez levelled the scores, only for Scott McTominay to nod the hosts in front. However, right at the death, Calvert-Lewin scrambled an equaliser.

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Bruno Fernandes rattled in this terrific free-kick in the pre-season friendly.

This season, it would be easy to forget that the 27-year-old netted a brilliant free-kick in a friendly win over the Toffees at Old Trafford. The curling set-piece flew past Pickford to make it 3-0 in the opening half-hour of a one-sided encounter last August.

In our most recent meeting with Everton, it finished 1-1 on home turf, with Anthony Martial scoring. The Frenchman was teed up by Fernandes with two minutes remaining of the first half, only for Andros Townsend to frustrate the Reds with a leveller.

So, in total, Bruno has six goal involvements in his four Premier League appearances against Everton (four goals, two assists), with four in two coming at Goodison (three goals, one assist). Opta have pointed out that the last United player to score in three consecutive away league games at Everton is Ruud van Nistelrooy, who managed this between December 2001 and Februrary 2004).

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