Bruno Fernandes delivered the perfect response to criticism from Paul Scholes after starring in Manchester United's impressive 2-0 win over Tottenham on Wednesday night.
Fernandes made an instant impact after joining the club back in January 2020, but he was singled out by Scholes following United's Europa League win over Nicosia Omonia a fortnight ago.
Despite the fact that Fernandes contributed in the 3-2 win, the former Old Trafford favourite suggested that the Portuguese playmaker should be taken out of the team after struggling for form.
Scholes told BT Sport: "The interesting thing [against Everton] will be Eriksen and Bruno what he does with them, he brought Bruno off after an hour, he’s been a little bit ineffective the last few weeks. Maybe it will be Casemiro, Fred, McTominay and possibly Eriksen. It could be time for Bruno to have a rest on Sunday."
But Fernandes responded emphatically by scoring in United's impressive 2-0 win over Tottenham to silence Scholes. Prior to Wednesday night's classy second-half strike, Fernandes had blanked in the Premier League since scoring against Southampton back in August - but he was influential against Spurs and only the offside flag denied him a second goal against Antonio Conte's side.
After making an instant impact at United, Fernandes struggled for form towards the end of last season and netted just two league goals in 12 games. And although he has still not yet managed to replicate his best form, he has improved since Erik ten Hag's arrival at Old Trafford.
His strike against Spurs follows is his second goal this month after he netted in United's first win over Omonia earlier this month, while he also bagged a goal and assist in Portugal's emphatic 4-0 win over the Czech Republic at the end of September.
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In the wake of criticism against him, Fernandes insisted before the match that he was confident that he would return to form - and that he could rediscover his goalscoring touch sooner rather than later.
"No it is not [the toughest time of my career]," Fernandes told Amazon Prime prior to the match. "I struggled to play football [at the beginning] but now I am at one of the biggest clubs in the world that should not be my toughest time.
"I want to score my goals, I want to assist more but that will never be a problem. Obviously class is permanent, you either have it or you don’t but life is made by challenge and I have to challenge myself. If my work rate is there, if the work I have been doing for the team is okay, I am pretty sure I will get my goals and assists."
