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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Jack Flintham

Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes explains tunnel confrontation with match official

Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes has explained the confrontation he had with the matchday officials following his side's 2-2 draw with Aston Villa.

The Portuguese midfielder scored twice at Villa Park to give United a seemingly commanding lead.

But goals from Jacob Ramsey and Philippe Coutinho ensured that the points were shared in the late kick-off.

Before the final whistle, there was a moment of controversy as Emi Buendia went down clutching his shoulder after Villa had made all three subs.

Fernandes claims that the home side were trying to say that Buendia had a head injury so they could use a fourth sub under the new Premier League concussion rule.

This resulted in Fernandes confronting the match official at full-time.

"I was asking the referee why they were making a fourth sub when Buendia was injured with his shoulder?" the midfielder said.

"I think the doctor said that he had hurt his head and if there is a head injury, there needs to be a change.

"But come on, he hurt his shoulder and they cannot get another sub. Come on, I get that the referee has to follow the rules, but I was just asking why and that was it."

Fernandes went on to explain that United were made to rue missed chances in the fixture.

He added: "I think we get a perfect result to be in the perfect position to score even more goals. Get the third goal and finish the game.

"But in the end we did not get the counterattack or last pass. They had the quality to score, they did and we draw. I don’t feel it, don’t feel it at all.

"We get our chances and still could score again. The shot was not good, the pass was not good. The run or whatever was not working. They started to get more pass between the line and out wide.

"When you give them that space with the quality they have, they will hurt you. I think the performance was better than the result for sure. Probably more controlled. We controlled the game better than before. We deserve more.

"But, the game is about deserving it’s about points. Unlucky for us. But, still, a lot to improve on even if the performance was good. I’m not happy at all.

"Everyone is happy to score goals but I prefer to win. I prefer to take away my goals and we win. Today my two goals don't mean anything, because we go one point and we wanted three."

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