Fernandes digs Man Utd out of hole in win over Sheff Utd

MANCHESTER: Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes came to his side's rescue with two goals in a 4-2 home victory over the Premier League's bottom club Sheffield United on Wednesday (Apr 24) just when more trouble loomed for beleaguered manager Erik ten Hag.

Twice United trailed against a side destined for a quick return to the Championship with Jayden Bogle and Ben Brereton Diaz both on target for the visitors but Fernandes helped avert another damaging result.

He levelled from the penalty spot in the 61st minute after a foul on Harry Maguire, scorer of United's first equaliser.

Fernandes then smacked home a sizzling left-footed shot to edge his side in front before setting up Rasmus Hojlund to finally subdue their battling opponents.

"At the end we came back. We put ourselves in a position where it's tough to win games. But also it shows a bit of character," the Portuguese said.

"We're scoring lots of goals. It's just about that compactness we need to have as a team."

It was another far-from-convincing display from Ten Hag's side who have conceded 50 league goals although victory moved them above Newcastle United into sixth place to keep them in the hunt for a European qualifying spot.

"Many positives today," Ten Hag said. "The resilience to fight back after losing two times. But also there were negatives. We gave it away, it can't happen, unacceptable, we have to learn from this."

While Sheffield United played with plenty of heart and no little skill, time is nearly up for Chris Wilder's side who have only 16 points from 34 games and will be relegated at the weekend if they lose to Newcastle.

United's FA Cup-semi-final win on penalties was dubbed embarrassing in some quarters after squandering a 3-0 lead against second-tier