Bruno Fernandes: We fought so hard with 10
Bruno Fernandes said Manchester United’s defeat to FC Copenhagen was not for a lack of effort, as the Reds fought on after going down to 10 men in the first half, but admits we must get back to winning ways as soon as possible.
United cruised into a two-goal lead thanks to a Rasmus Hojlund brace within the opening half-hour of the contest, before a controversial red card shown to Marcus Rashford proved a decisive moment in the game – with the home side scoring twice to level before the break.
Bruno put us back in front midway through the second half, from the penalty spot, but the hosts turned matters around with quickfire late strikes from Lukas Lareger and Roony Bardghji.
Bruno: It was a tough day
Our captain discusses the challenges of playing with 10 men and how we get back on track after defeat in Denmark...
Our no.8 spoke of the understandably dejected feeling in the dressing room after the game, and the challenge posed by playing with a numerical disadvantage.
“It’s disappointment, obviously,” the Portugal international told MUTV. “I think for everything we did in the game, we could, and should, have got something from the game.
“It’s difficult at the moment, obviously the mood is not the best because we’ve fought so hard with 10 men that even from then, it was playing against a team that plays really good on the ball and apart from that many decisions was against us.
“Today was a tough day, but I think the team effort was good, we tried. We could have done some things better but it was difficult for us from 30 minutes on, playing with one player less.”
The captain explained that while United put in the yards to try to make up for the disparity between the sides, following Rashford’s dismissal, it inevitably led to spaces opening up for the Danish side.
“We understood that we could get something from the game, we could win the game there, but it’s difficult to play, it’s so long playing with 10 men,” continued Bruno.
“And in some moments, they will get spaces because you’re running behind the ball because you’re trying to get in to everywhere, with every player, and it’s difficult to cover so much space. They got their two goals to win the game.”
FC Copenhagen 4 United 3
ArticleGet the lowdown on the Reds' dramatic, controversial defeat at the Parken Stadium.
However, our midfield maestro says there remains a belief in the camp of getting two wins from two in our final pair of Champions League group-stage matches – away to Galatasary and at home versus Bayern Munich.
First on the agenda, though, is this weekend’s visit of Luton Town in the Premier League.
He added: “Even before this game, that was still the belief; to win the last three games of the group stage. And now we have two, we have to win them if we want to keep in the Champions League and stay in the best competition, we have to win against the best.
“We have a very tough game away against Galatasaray, and after, we play against the top of the group. We want to win both, but now we have to focus on Luton because it’s going to be a tough game again, we need three points in the league, we need to get back to the winning track after this defeat and keeping the winning track in the Premier League.”