Bruno Fernandes stat proves importance to Manchester United after Nottingham Forest display

Manchester United were once again able to rely on their talismanic captain to get them out of trouble.

United got off to a horrendous start at Old Trafford and found themselves two-nil down inside four minutes. Goals from Christian Eriksen and Casemiro got them level with half an hour to play.

When Marcus Rashford was clipped by Danilo in the penalty area, there was only one man for the task of converting the spot-kick. Forest were already down to ten men but it was the opening United had hoped for.

Fernandes calmly dispatched, continuing his positive run from the penalty spot. In fact, the goals meant that since he made his Premier League debut, no player has scored or assisted in more separate matches.

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With a tally of 12 since his league debut in February 2020, it shows how reliable Fernandes has been on a consistent basis. He has shown up regularly, rather than relying on patches of form or flurries of goal contributions.

He was both a scorer and an assister against Forest, though the free-kick routine that saw him set up Casemiro didn't go to plan. The United skipper admitted afterwards there was a touch of fortune.

“I saw that Marcus had a lot of space outside the box and tried to give him the pass so he had time to shoot,” Fernandes told MUTV when asked about the set-piece. “But my pass was a little bit high so he had to control the ball and couldn't get it right because the ball was not easy.

“After that he did a great touch and the cross from Rashy is what made the