Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim lauded captain Bruno Fernandes after the Portuguese midfielder netted a hattrick against Real Sociedad to propel the club to the last 8 of the Europa League. However, Amorim also said that Bruno needed to trust his teammates a little bit more on the field.
“When we need it, (Fernandes) is always there,” Amorim said. “He can bring the ball forward. He can score goals. He is a perfect captain for our team and we need to help him win titles.”
“We know that sometimes he is frustrated. We know he wants to win so badly and when things are not going well, he is changing position and going after the ball. Sometimes he needs to trust his teammates,” he added.
United, who drew the first leg against Sociedad last week, went a goal down after 10 minutes when Matthijs de Ligt fouled Mikel Oyarzabal and Oyarzabal converted from the spot. However, the hosts levelled six minutes later with a penalty scored by Fernandes after Igor Zubeldia had fouled Rasmus Hojlund.
Another spot-kick gave United the lead five minutes after the interval after Aritz Elustondo was adjudged to have fouled Patrick Dorgu and Fernandes again made no mistake. Sociedad were reduced to 10 men when Jon Aramburu fouled Joshua Zirkzee and Fernandes completed his hat-trick before Diogo Dalot wrapped up a 5-2 aggregate victory for the English side in added time.
United will next meet Olympique Lyonnais in the Europa League on April 11 for the first leg of the quarterfinal with the second leg set for April 18. In the Premier League, they’ll face Leicester City on March 17.
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