Bruno Fernandes showed that assists aren't the only thing he can hand out after bizarrely giving a piece of chicken to a Manchester United fan following their emphatic 4-0 victory over Liverpool.
The Red Devils got their first pre-season under new manager Erik ten Hag off to a flying start thanks to a rousing win against their bitter rivals, with goals from Jadon Sancho, Anthony Martial, Fred and Facundo Pellistri seeing off Jurgen Klopp 's men in Bangkok.
While he didn't get on the scoresheet, Fernandes made headlines well after the full-time whistle before getting on the team bus and boarding a flight to Australia. The 27-year-old midfielder, who captained United in the injured Harry Maguire 's absence, was walking out of the Rajmangala Stadium and a lucky supporter noticed that he was carrying a portion of chicken for his post-match meal.
Without hesitation, Fernandes offered the fan a bite by saying "take one" in what must be a contender for most bizarre moment of the season already. The supporter who the Portuguese playmaker gifted the snack to is 'KG' from the YouTube channel United View, and was one of 50,000 people in Thailand who attended Tuesday's match.
Fernandes played the first 45 minutes of the game, with the Red Devils stunningly 3-0 up just after the half-hour mark. Sancho broke the deadlock with a composed finish early on, before a delightful dink from Fred doubled their lead. Then Martial got back on the scoresheet, just his second goal in United colours since the beginning of last season.
Half-time substitute Pellistri rounded things off by finishing an Eric Bailly -driven counter attack, leaving Ten Hag delighted with his team's 'brave' performance. "We are satisfied today because I think there was a team with great spirit. We know we are just starting and when things begin to click like the press," the Dutch tactician told MUTV.
"We know we made some mistakes in pressing and conceded some chances but also we created a lot and I think our team played bravely, they were proactive and we had to work really hard to get out of some mistakes. Of course, we are happy with the first game.
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"It was not only the result. I know we have good players but we have to play as a team. We started the first game well so I am happy. Of course it will take time, believe me I have seen a lot of mistakes but I will not say [what they were]. But to be honest, Liverpool played with three teams and they were not at their strongest, so we are not overestimating them [our players]. We saw some really good things. What you see is we have a lot of creativity and speed in the front and we have potential."
Ten Hag and co now head down under for a match against Melbourne Victory on Friday, with kick-off at 11:05 BST. United fans will see a familiar face in the friendly, as former winger Nani signed for the Australian side earlier this week to prolong his glittering career at the ripe age of 35.
