Jamie Carragher has criticised Bruno Fernandes’ reaction during the incident that led to Phil Foden’s dismissal in Manchester United’s 1-0 defeat by Manchester City at Old Trafford.
Foden was sent off in the 23rd minute after kicking out at the United captain following a clash between the pair. City were reduced to 10 men for more than an hour but still secured victory through Erling Haaland’s second-half goal.
Jamie Carragher questions Bruno Fernandes reaction
Speaking on Monday Night Football, Carragher said the incident should have resulted in both players receiving yellow cards. He was particularly critical of Fernandes for appearing to exaggerate the contact.
“What I would say is two yellows [cards] would have been fine. But I was really disappointed with Bruno Fernandes,” Carragher said.
He added: “There’s a lot of things in football that we like or we don’t like. My big one that I really don’t like is people going down, pretending they’re hurt. But doing that…I can’t have it.
“I know there will be Manchester United fans watching this saying: ‘Oh it’s because he’s a Manchester United player, it’s because he’s a foreign player’. On this show about five or six years ago Harry Kane did the same in a game between Tottenham and Everton and I said the same, I can’t accept it. I’m not having the reaction from Bruno there, it was a brush from his foot.”
Fernandes went down dramatically after Foden’s boot made contact, a reaction Carragher believes made the challenge appear worse than it was. However, Foden’s subsequent kicking motion was judged to constitute violent conduct, with VAR supporting referee Michael Oliver’s decision.
Pro Ref later maintained that the red card was correct, although officials acknowledged a separate VAR error relating to Haaland’s winning goal.
Fernandes’ conduct has therefore remained part of the debate over the dismissal, but responsibility for the sending-off ultimately rested with Foden’s decision to retaliate. United’s greater frustration will be that they failed to make their numerical advantage count for most of the match.
