Bruno Fernandes said he chose to “pick a spot and hit it as hard as I could” when he retook the penalty that sparked Manchester United’s comeback against Roma.
The Giallorossi had made a dominant start at Old Trafford in the Champions League, moving 2-0 ahead inside the opening 18 minutes. Matias Soule opened the scoring before Donyell Malen converted a penalty.
Manchester United were then awarded a penalty described as soft, offering them a route back into the match. However, Bruno Fernandes saw his initial effort saved by Devis Vasquez.
Roma’s Bryan Cristante had moved into the area before the rebound was cleared, and a VAR review ruled that the penalty had to be retaken. Bruno Fernandes made no mistake at the second attempt, beginning a comeback which ended with Manchester United winning 3-2.
“I knew it was a big responsibility, it could’ve changed the game and we really needed a goal to get the crowd behind us at that moment,” Bruno Fernandes told Sky Sport Italia.
“The penalty is always a stressful moment, because it is just you against the goalkeeper and nobody else can help in that situation.
“I was lucky honestly that Cristante went into the box too early, so it gave me an opportunity to take it again. The second time, I decided to pick a spot and hit it as hard as I could without trying to second-guess where the goalkeeper was going.”
The Portugal international also spoke in Italian during his interview, after it was reported that Manchester United staff had refused to let him address local media in the language following a 4-1 defeat by Como in the Champions League.
That decision had attracted attention because Bruno Fernandes spent many years in Serie A and B. On this occasion, he used Italian while discussing Manchester United’s difficult period, with the club having gone without a win since September 10.
“It is a very important win, because obviously things aren’t going the way we want them to. We aim to do one thing and we do another, we concede goals at the start of games, it is a truly difficult moment, but we must try to get ourselves out of it,” added the midfielder.
Bruno Fernandes said the result could provide Manchester United with the belief needed to improve, while insisting the squad’s quality remained intact.
“I hope this can give us the confidence to go forward and do better, because there is quality in this squad, we saw what we did last season and it’s not possible that it all just disappeared.
“These are the same players as before, we have added some good quality over the summer, and we need to keep going.”
