Manchester United captain, Bruno Fernandes has explained why he let striker Marcus Rashford take a penalty in their 3-0 win against Premier League side Everton.
The England international forward hit a personal-best 30 goals for the Red Devils last season, but had only one goal to his name this season. After a VAR review, the referee pointed to the spot and Bruno Fernandes stepped aside for Rashford to take it and the Englishman scored.
When asked why he gave the striker the penalty, Fernandes said:
“Because I felt that Marcus needed a bit of confidence, needed goals. Marcus is an excellent penalty-taker too. I’m 100 percent sure that he could score the penalty. It’s not about who takes it, it’s about scoring the penalty and Marcus did it perfectly.”
He said when asked if Rashford’s confidence has dipped: “Obviously strikers, wingers, they want to score goals, they need to score goals, that’s part of their game and it gives you a boost. After the penalty, Marcus was unstoppable – he could take on everyone. I think sometimes you need this chance, this opportunity to get confidence back. But Marcus has been great for us. Obviously last season he was amazing, so everyone’s expectations for this season were higher. It’s just about getting his goals back and everyone will stay say that he is world-class again.”
When asked about his thoughts, Erik Ten Hag said:
“A lot. You see also how great Captain Bruno is. He assessed his teammate needed that goal. He has the confidence in Rashy, who is a good penalty-taker. As a team, you need that leadership that you back each other. We have to go step by step. This is one step.”