Fulham have fuelled the public criticism of Bruno Fernandes by mocking the Manchester United captain over his injury in Saturday’s game between the two clubs at Old Trafford.
United boss Erik ten Hag branded the social media backlash against Fernandes as ‘pathetic’ after a clip of him going down heavily under a challenge from Fulham’s Sasa Lukic and then quickly playing on was circulated on social media.
Fulham posted the clip on their official TikTok account along with a sarcastic caption that read ‘so glad he’s ok’. By Thursday morning it had 43,000 likes.
United are keen to avoid a row with their Premier League rivals, although sources say it is regrettable that the video has been shared on an official channel.
United feel that far from providing evidence of Fernandes feigning injury, it shows how determined he was to ignore the shin injury and help his team look for an equaliser after going 2-1 down in injury-time.
Fulham have mocked Bruno Fernandes over his ‘injury’ during their win against Man United
Fernandes went down under a challenge from Fulham’s Sasa Lukic and looked to be in pain
However, moments later the United captain got up off the floor and continued to play on
Fulham’s post on TikTok fuelled the public criticism Fernandes has received in recent days
The Portugal star was a doubt for Wednesday’s FA Cup tie at Nottingham Forest but Ten Hag praised him for playing through the pain to get an assist on Casemiro’s late winner, and criticised the opposition for targeting him with a series of fouls.
Fernandes limped out of the City Ground afterwards, which is a worry for United ahead of Sunday’s Manchester derby at the Etihad.
‘You saw that Forest were targeting him,’ said Ten Hag. ‘There were many fouls on him. You see when he is getting the ball, they are really tight on him.
Erik ten Hag hit back at the criticism of Fernandes and said he has a ‘very high pain threshold’
‘I don’t say what it is, but it was a serious injury. I see social media criticise him. It is pathetic. He has a serious injury, he continued to play on Saturday and then also he fought to be part of this game.
‘He has a very high pain threshold. Last year he did something similar against Spurs. It shows his leadership.’
