Captain sinks to new low leaving Ten Hag all at sea

The defence calls the Tottenham No 10. “Even [James] Maddison when he gets up, he said it was a foul but never a red card,” insisted Bruno Fernandes.

- RICHARD JOLLY

And if it was an accurate version of events; but even if with a star witness, he was pleading in vain. “I don't think it was a red card,” said Erik ten Hag. “I don't know why VAR doesn't call the referee to the screen,” added Fernandes

There is a simple answer to that: because Chris Kavanagh’s initial decision was correct, because a high challenge connected with Maddison’s leg when nowhere near the ball. Fernandes’s lunge looked reckless and out of control, the sort that could be deemed dangerous. Cut through the Portuguese’s grumbles, however, and there was one pertinent comment. “I let my teammates down with one man down,” said Fernandes.

A 3-0 defeat to Tottenham brought Fernandes’s first red card in his 242-game Manchester United career. Not the first suggestions he has let the team down, as captain and in a tough game; perhaps the first time he has admitted it, though. Go back 18 months and two others who had worn the armband, Gary Neville and Roy Keane, described his behaviour in the 7-0 defeat to Liverpool as a “disgrace” and “disgraceful”, respectively; or last year’s 3-0 Manchester derby loss when Keane said he should be stripped of the captaincy.

If, when things are going wrong, Fernandes has a tendency towards petulance or cynicism, arguably each was a factor in his attempts to halt Maddison. A habit of moaning to referees, however, has never previously involved complaining about his own dismissal.