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Fernandes sparks comeback
Manchester United hosted Ipswich Town at Old Trafford on Sunday and turned a one-goal deficit into a 5-2 win, with captain Bruno Fernandes scoring a hat-trick in the comeback.
“A hat-trick in United's 5-2 win made the day all about him.”
The BBC described a torrential downpour at the end of the match, with thunder and lightning and rain pouring into the stadium through a leak in the roof as United’s 5-2 result was sealed.
Fernandes’ decisive moments included a blistering equaliser after Marcelino Nunez slipped, and he then kept his nerve to smash home a penalty to make it 3-1 after an hour.
The BBC also noted that Marcus Rashford started his first Premier League game for the club since December 2024, while Kobbie Mainoo was part of Michael Carrick’s starting line-up.
In the BBC player ratings, Fernandes was given 10 for his “Sensational performance from the captain,” while Rashford was rated 7 after his first league start since December 2024.
Carrick, Young react
After the match, Michael Carrick told BBC Sport, "What else can I say?" as he pointed to the way Fernandes delivered when United needed it most.
Carrick added that he had “only been here six or seven months,” and the BBC framed Fernandes’ hat-trick as the defining response to United’s earlier shock 2-0 defeat at Hull City.
Ashley Young, speaking to Sky Sports, said Fernandes is “the one that gets Manchester United ticking,” and he argued there is “a reason why he was voted player of the year by his fellow professionals.”
Young continued that Fernandes “wants to be the best and he wants to win,” and he warned that without him “there is going to be a huge hole in this team.”
In the BBC ratings, Fernandes was credited with a “Thunderous equaliser” and calm penalty-taking after “two pre-season failures,” while the same ratings gave Ipswich goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen an 8 for a “Superb save to deny Dalot the opener.”
Season context and next
The BBC said Fernandes had been one of many players “well below par” in the shock 2-0 defeat at Hull City, but it also reported that on Tuesday he collected the PFA Players' Player of the Year award for his contribution to United returning to the Champions League after a two-year absence.
“he collected the PFA Players' Player of the Year award”
Before the Ipswich game, the BBC reported Fernandes walked on to the pitch with the sons of PC Matthew Blades, who was “tragically killed in a recent head-on collision on the A66 near Middlesbrough.”
The BBC player ratings also placed the match’s defensive storyline in context, with Luke Shaw rated 5 for a “difficult day” and Kobbie Mainoo rated 6 as United’s midfield “struggled to cope with Ipswich running at them.”
In the same ratings, Ipswich’s Leif Davis was rated 8 for a “Superb pass inside Dalot” that helped create one good chance and a goal, while Marcelino Nunez was rated 6 after a “Disastrous slip” that let Man Utd in for the crucial equaliser.
With the 5-2 win at Old Trafford, the BBC said “A new Man Utd era” emerged, but it kept the focus on Fernandes’ standard-setting performance as United ended the afternoon with a first home win of the campaign under Carrick.