Bruno Fernandes was shown a straight red card for a challenge on James Maddison in Tottenham’s 3-0 win over Man United at Old Trafford this evening.
Manchester United 0-3 Tottenham Hotspur
The Lilywhites and the Red Devils both came into the match this evening needing a win to boost themselves up the table. Both Erik ten Hag and Postecoglou have also come under their fair share of pressure in recent weeks.
However, Tottenham looked the only likely winner from the first minute until the last. Spurs opened the scoring through Brennan Johnson – his fourth goal in four games – just three minutes into the match.
Spurs’ ascendancy was all but cemented when Bruno Fernandes was shown a straight red card for a challenge on James Maddison, just a few minutes before the half-time break.
Bruno Fernandes sees red against Tottenham
As Maddison skipped away from his fellow Premier League midfielder, Fernandes appeared to slip and stuck out a petulant foot in the direction of the Tottenham star.
Unfortunately for Fernandes and Maddison alike, the studs of his boot connected high on the Spurs playmaker’s leg and a red card was swiftly shown.
However, it appears even Maddison himself thought that was a harsh outcome.
Maddison told Fernandes it was not a red card
In a post-match interview, Bruno Fernandes has claimed that Maddison admitted the challenge was not red-card worthy. The Manchester United captain seemed far from impressed with the referee’s onfield decision.
He told Sky Sports Main Event (29/9/24 – 18:54): “He [Maddison] said that it is a foul, but never a red card. That’s what he said and I think that in the eyes of everyone you can see that it is never a red card.”
In all honesty, Fernandes is probably right. He clearly slipped leading into the challenge and the contact wasn’t actually that bad – albeit high. Either way, Spurs looked likely to run away with the game though.