A number of Manchester United supporters saw the funny side to Bruno Fernandes gently kicking teammate David de Gea during the second half of Wednesday night's 1-0 win over Brentford at Old Trafford.
Marcus Rashford scored the only goal of the game after 27 minutes to secure a much-needed victory for the Reds, lifting them above Tottenham Hotspur and back into the top four. They were the dominant side for long spells of the contest and ought to have won by a bigger margin.
United, particularly in the first half, toyed with Brentford, bossing proceedings by dragging them one way and then another. After the interval, though, the Bees, who thrashed United 4-0 at the Gtech Community Stadium in August, turned up the heat and did create a handful of opportunities to draw level, the best of which fell to substitute Kevin Schade.
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He was sent scampering free by Ivan Toney, leaving himself one-on-one with De Gea, but the Spaniard was quick out of his goal to spread himself and he smothered the striker's attempted chip. De Gea, however, felt the full impact of his coming together with Schade, leaving him flat on his back and in need of medical treatment.
As a member of United's medical team checked on the goalkeeper's condition, skipper Fernandes walked over to the scene of the incident and before bending down to check on his teammate's condition he decided to kick him twice. It was obviously done tongue-in-cheek from the Portuguese midfielder and it was his way of telling De Gea to get back to his feet and get the game resumed.
De Gea did, of course, soon get back to his feet and completed the remainder of the match, earning his 12th Premier League clean sheet of the season in the process. Unsurprisingly, Fernandes' decision to kick the shot-stopper generated a reaction from United's supporters, almost all of whom saw the funny side to the midfielder's antics.
One United supporter posted: "Bruno has no chill."
Another said: "Real rich coming from Bruno, lol."
One United fan joked: "Like checking the tyres on a second hand car."
Another remarked: "Bruno is a Portuguese Roy Keane!"
Another fan joked about Casemiro: "Five match ban for Casemiro incoming."
A fellow United supporter posted: "Proper captain material there."
Another joked: "New time wasting technique - add more injury."
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