Sancho tells Man Utd team-mate Fernandes to ‘stop moaning’ as Red Devils beat Aston Villa

Joe Williams
Man Utd winger Jadon Sancho celebrates a goal with Bruno Fernandes

Man Utd winger Jadon Sancho was seen telling Bruno Fernandes to “stop moaning” during their 1-0 victory over Aston Villa on Sunday.

The Red Devils kept up their march towards Champions League qualification with a narrow win over Unai Emery’s side at Old Trafford.

During the match Sancho lost patience with Fernandes and told him to “stop moaning” at others during the important Premier League clash.

Fernandes could be seen shouting at his Man Utd team-mate after Sancho backheeled the ball to Tyrell Malacia on the overlap, instead of passing to the Portugal international, but missed and the ball went out for a throw-in.

The camera then zoomed in on Sancho who clearly mouthed the words “stop moaning” in his direction before it was all smiles as Fernandes scored the only goal of the game.

It isn’t the first time Man Utd midfielder Fernandes has been criticised for his body language and moaning with former Red Devils defender Paul Parker recently calling him “childish and petulant” and “a brat”.

Parker said: “First of all, I was saying from day one that Bruno Fernandes shouldn’t have been the captain. I think he is a player who should be left to his own devices. He is not a leader and this is the reason why it took him that long to get to a big club like Man United.

“People are trying to protect him by saying that he is the best player, he is making assists and so on. But the truth is that he has been childish and petulant with the way he throws himself to the ground and blames the referees. He is a brat.

“Wearing the armband is about getting the other players to calm down. Imagine if he told Casemiro to calm down. He would just shake his head. No one would ever accept anything coming from him because of the way he conducts himself.

“He prefers to walk around and kick people, complain and give up. He gave up against Liverpool, which is miserable. He was not the only player who gave up and it was wrong by all the players. But as a captain he should make sure that it wasn’t happening and he is never doing that.”

Roy Keane, Gary Neville and others have criticised Fernandes for his on-field behaviour this season but Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag is extremely happy with his midfielder.

“I think as Man United and as a top team then you have to compete and go for the win in every competition you are in, so that’s what we are doing,” Ten Hag said earlier this week.

“That is the culture we want to construct, so that is what we are doing. It has to be in the mindset of every player and every employee who is working for Manchester United.”

On Fernandes’ quick recovery from injury to play in a 2-2 draw against Tottenham in midweek, Ten Hag added: “It was tough, a big compliment on Bruno. He absolutely doesn’t want to miss this game and he did everything to get fit.

“I think he is the example, and that you have to suffer and you have to sacrifice when you want to play on the top level, you want to achieve something.

“So once again he showed there how great a captain he is, how he has taken responsibility, even when he is not 100 per cent fit.

“But he did the job, he was important in this game as well. Hopefully the team can, not learn, but see him as an inspiration and do the same.”

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Manchester United Bruno Fernandes