LONDON (AP) — A misstep by the referee might have contributed to Bruno Fernandes missing a penalty for Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday.
Fernandes was walking backward away from the ball in readiness to take the spot kick against Fulham when he stumbled into referee Chris Kavanagh, who was trying to get round the United captain.
Fernandes threw up his arms to complain, went back to the ball and picked it up.
After some seconds, Fernandes put the ball back down and attempted to compose himself before taking the penalty, which he powered over the crossbar.
It left the score at 0-0 heading into halftime at Craven Cottage.
“I was upset. Obviously, as every penalty taker, you have your own routines. You have your own things that you do. It upset me because the referee didn’t apologize, and that was what triggered me in that moment," Fernandes told Sky Sports. “But that’s not the excuse to missing the penalty. I just had a very bad hit on the ball. I got my foot too (much) under the ball, and that’s why the ball went over the bar.”
After the teams came out for the second half, Fernandes was seen talking to Kavanagh before the game restarted and United manager Ruben Amorim felt the penalty miss impacted the Portugal midfielder's performance for the rest of the game, which finished 1-1.
“He's not used to missing a penalty,” Amorim said. “He knows the importance, that every moment in this context can have a huge impact in the team and I felt during the game he was not so happy. Not so involved because he has so much responsibility.”
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The Associated Press
