According to Opta, Bruno Fernandes’ 13 successful penalties since his Manchester United debut in February rank him alongside Old Trafford legend Cristiano Ronaldo, who is still prolific for Juventus.
No player has scored more times from the spot than Fernandes since his first outing for the Red Devils, with Portuguese icon Ronaldo level with the man who boasts United’s biggest attacking threat.
This statistic applies to Europe’s top five leagues which are the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1.
Seven of Fernandes’ successful spot-kicks have come in the Premier League, three in last season’s Europa League, two in this term’s Champions League and one in the FA Cup defeat to Chelsea.
Fernandes has missed just once over this period, when he was stopped in his tracks by Newcastle’s Karl Darlow in a win that he went on to register a goal and assist in anyway.
13 – Since his Man Utd debut in February, no player in Europe’s top five leagues has scored more penalties in all competitions than Bruno Fernandes (13 – level with C. Ronaldo). Pause. pic.twitter.com/jQy2EBdhfT
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 8, 2020
Fernandes’ massive contributions from the penalty spot have earned him an unfair reputation, he doesn’t rely on them at all, with 10 goals from open-play and 14 assists since he joined the Red Devils.
Fernandes’ 13th from the spot came in Tuesday night’s defeat to RB Leipzig, which sent United out of the Champions League and into the Europa, whilst Ronaldo bagged two spot-kicks vs Barcelona.
Fernandes has been successful from the spot as a result of his hop-skip technique, which was first popularised in the Premier League by Chelsea midfielder Jorginho.