Bruno Fernandes had just inspired Manchester United’s 3-2 Champions League comeback against Roma at Old Trafford on Tuesday when he stepped in front of the Amazon Prime microphone and delivered the rawest interview of the club’s season.
“We don’t need to save anyone’s job,” the captain said on Amazon Prime. “The club needed that win, the players needed that win.”
That cut straight through weeks of commentary suggesting United’s players were playing to rescue manager Michael Carrick, whose side had gone nine matches without a win before Roma arrived.
Fernandes volunteered that he had deserved to be dropped for the 3-0 Premier League defeat at Bournemouth the previous weekend, which came after he had publicly questioned the team’s tactics following a 4-1 Champions League loss to Como.
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“The manager took the decision to put me on the bench because I wasn’t performing, and that’s fair,” he told the broadcaster. “Everyone thought that was a punishment for the words that I had. If it was, it was right.”
He was not finished.
“There has been a lot of speculation in the media,” the Portugal captain added. “A lot of lies around many things that have happened at this club, between me and the manager.”
Then came the sign-off Amazon Prime did not expect.
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“It doesn’t change my aim to win every f***ing game that I have ahead of me,” Fernandes said live on air.
Presenter Gabby Logan apologised on air for the language before the broadcast moved on.
Cunha turns the match on its head
Roma had gone 2-0 up inside the first 20 minutes at Old Trafford through Matías Soulé and Donyell Malen and were still ahead at the interval.
Fernandes pulled one back from a retaken penalty after the break. Matheus Cunha then struck twice inside three minutes, with the winner in the 86th.
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Cunha celebrated by jumping into the crowd. Minutes later he was sent off in stoppage time for an over-exuberant tackle.
Carrick in the dark on his future
Carrick’s job has been the running story of United’s autumn. In the days before the Roma match, the Associated Press reported that the manager was “in the dark” about his future, with the United hierarchy set to reassess his position during the November international break and Eddie Howe among the names being publicly discussed as a possible replacement.
