BRUNO FERNANDES and Iliman Ndiaye came to blows in an ugly clash during Manchester United’s 2-2 pre-season draw with Everton on Sunday night.
The Red Devils failed to win for the first time on their pre-season tour of the USA, and a lapse in concentration from captain Fernandes could be to blame for a sloppy equaliser.
GettyBruno Fernandes and Iliman Ndiaye clashed in ugly scenes during Manchester United’s 2-2 pre-season draw with Everton on Sunday[/caption]
GettyFernandes swiped a lazy leg at Ndiaye as the Everton star skipped away from him on a counter attack[/caption]
GettyTeammates rushed in to try and diffuse the fracas[/caption]
GettyMason Mount took a hand to the neck from Ndiaye during the angry exchanges[/caption]
Fernandes, 30, has been the rare shining light in United’s miserable form of recent months but seemed to let his temper get the better of him during Sunday’s match.
With United leading 2-1, the Portuguese playmaker was chasing Everton‘s Ndiaye as the Toffees launched a counter attack when he appeared to kick out at the Senegal international as he skipped away from him.
Ndiaye was incensed by the lunging kick, which seemingly had no chance of nicking the ball away, and immediately turned to confront Fernandes.
Tempers began to flare from there with the pair trading shoves on the half-way line and attracting the interest of teammates who tried to pull them apart.
Mason Mount took the brunt of the anger as he stepped in to calm things down, seemingly been grabbed round the neck by Ndiaye.
The moment of madness from Fernandes and Ndiaye proved costly for United, as a lapse in concentration allowed Everton the opportunity to stream forward with five on five.
That attack had United’s defence all over the place as Amad Diallo tackled Dwight McNeil inside the box only for his challenge to hit the ball against teammate Ayden Heaven and into the goal for a Heaven own goal.
There were muted celebrations from the Everton team as attention was quickly drawn to Fernandes and Ndiaye, who were still going at it on the half-way line.
EPAAyden Heaven turned the ball into his own net after sloppy defending from United during the incident[/caption]
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The referee ultimately had to show both players a yellow card for their outburst.
It tarnished an otherwise impressive outing for the pair who had both found the net earlier in the game.
Fernandes opened the scoring in the 18th minute with a calmly taken penalty after James Tarkowski brought down Amad in the area.
While Ndiaye was the Everton man to level the scores in the 39th minute when he tidily tucked home a delicious cross from Idrissa Gana Gueye at the back post.
Fernandes later set up Mason Mount’s 69th minute goal for United, making a clever sideways pass into the box for Mount to spectacularly send curling into the far corner of Jordan Pickford‘s net.
Fernandes was frustrated with his team’s inability to hold on to their lead twice after the match, telling NBC Sports that United were “lazy”.
He said: “It’s not where we want it to be. It’s every detail, every small detail matters.
GettyFernandes opened the scoring with a spot-kick in the first half[/caption]
EPAHe also set up Mason Mount for the Englishman’s stunning curled goal[/caption]
“Our performance wasn’t the best off the ball. We were a little bit lazy and we have to avoid that because the laziness you can pay at any moment. We need to change that.
“The situation is improving but we are not where this club needs to be.
“At this football club you can’t do anything wrong on the pitch and off the pitch because it’s too big worldwide and you get punished by that.
“The culture here was winning and we need to bring that back. Not only the winning mentality that we need, and I think that’s always been there, but obviously if you don’t win you don’t show it.
“A lot of people have suffered from this, a lot of people who had been working at the club for many many years had to go.
“The fans are paying more for tickets and we appreciate all the effort they put in for us so now it’s up to us to pay it back on the pitch.”
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