Manchester United will be without their captain when they make the trip to face Liverpool at Anfield next week after Erik ten Hag’s men suffered their 11th defeat of the season on Saturday.
Earlier this week, it looked like United had turned a corner in what has been a disastrous season but after the visit of Bournemouth, the United camp must be feeling the complete opposite.
Just days after the Reds put in their best performance of the season against Chelsea, they have been left completely embarrassed by Bournemouth at Old Trafford.
The visitors took the lead in the opening five minutes and although they rarely threatened in United’s defensive third, Ten Hag’s men really struggled to break their opposition down.
Instead, Bournemouth soaked up the pressure and hit United where it hurt in the second half. They scored the second goal roughly halfway through the second 45 and later made it three.
They also scored a fourth in the dying stages but that goal was disallowed after the VAR intervened and discovered a handball.
To add insult to injury, United will now be without their captain for next week’s trip to Anfield. Bruno Fernandes has been on four yellow cards for a while now and it was always a question of when and not if he would receive his fifth and subsequent one-match ban.
It couldn’t have come at a worse time for United and Fernandes must certainly take much of the blame. United were denied a free-kick and seconds later, Fernandes was penalised for tripping a Bournemouth player up.
The foul itself did not result in a yellow card but Fernandes’ reaction did. The midfielder completely lost his composure and will be regretting that as he now has to watch his side play at Anfield from home.
