Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes feels a meeting with Ireland goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher is a good opportunity to “settle scores” after he missed a penalty against him earlier this season.
Fernandes has been one of United‘s very best players since he joined them in 2020. The attacking midfielder has been directly involved in 186 goals in 298 games for the Red Devils.
He has been their designated penalty taker for most of his time there, and in the Premier League, he’s scored 23 of those spot kicks, and missed six.
But this season, Fernandes’ record from the spot is pretty woeful, as he’s scored just one of three efforts.
He scored against Burnley, skied one against Fulham and saw Brentford goalkeeper Kelleher save his attempt in a 3-1 loss.
Fernandes will come up against Kelleher for Portugal against Ireland on Saturday, and thus his penalty record has been brought up.
Fernandes said: “This season, out of three, I ended up missing two. I don’t want to miss any of them. It’s something I need to study better. I’ll always do it with full conviction because there’s a coach who trusts me.
“Every day is a good day to settle scores.
“He was stronger. He did very well, and I didn’t. But it’s not something that affects my head. In a football team, there’s something bigger than individuality. Winning is much more important than settling scores with the Irish goalkeeper.”
Portugal have full points from their two World Cup qualification games so far, but Fernandes is yet to have a direct hand in a goal.
He played 90 minutes in the 5-0 victory over Armenia and neither scored nor assisted, before he again blanked in a 66-minute outing against Hungary.
In three games against Ireland in his career, he’s assisted once and not scored.
But the midfielder’s assist came in his last outing against Ireland, so he’ll be hoping not only that he can put his woes against Kelleher behind him, but that he can carry the form from his last match against them with him.
Fernandes has also revealed that he has no immediate plans to move away from United.
He said: “I didn’t close the door on moving to Saudi Arabia because of the World Cup.
“That was never in my mind. I wanted to stay at Manchester United, and the club wanted me to stay. That’s all there is to it.”
READ MORE: Bruno Fernandes responds to rumours he will leave Man Utd for Saudi Arabia next summer