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Fernandes misses last-gasp penalty as Villa shock Man United

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Bruno Fernandes blazed a stoppage-time penalty over the crossbar as Aston Villa earned a shock 1-0 victory at a below-par Manchester United in the Premier League on Saturday (Sept 25).

Kortney Hause’s 88th-minute header put Villa for their first league win over United since 2009, but the defender’s handball gifted United an opportunity to steal a point, only for Fernandes to miss the target.

Since Cristiano Ronaldo re-signed for United, there has been much debate over who will take penalties and free kicks this season – last term’s spot-kick taker Fernandes or his fellow Portuguese.

It was Fernandes who took the first direct free kick on Saturday, firing into the wall, with Ronaldo getting the next one, and Fernandes, following Hause’s handball, never looked back as he placed the ball on the spot in the 92nd minute.

But last season’s top scorer missed only his second spot-kick for the club to the dismay of an expectant crowd.

“First of all the way they (Villa players) get round the penalty spot, get round Bruno and that, that’s not to my liking,” United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said.

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“Bruno is usually very good in those positions and unfortunately he missed this one.”

In truth, United got what they deserved.

Villa had two great opportunities to break the deadlock in the first half with full back Matt Targett blazing over from two metres out, before Ollie Watkins was denied by a fine save from United goalkeeper David de Gea.

The home side, encouraged by a frustrated Old Trafford crowd, stepped it up late in the match, but Hause climbed highest to stun the hosts before Fernandes’ miss and United tasted league defeat for the first time this season.

That second successive home loss in all competitions means United dropped to fourth in the standings on goal difference, with the top four sides all on 13 points. Villa climbed to seventh.

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“It (a Villa win at Old Trafford) has been a long time coming,” Villa manager Dean Smith said. “Our performance levels have been good the last couple of times we’ve been here.

“What that does is it gives an awful lot of belief to the players now.”

Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

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