Man Utd beat Nottingham Forest 3-2 at Old Trafford but they had to come from behind and needed their captain to help rescue them.
There have been more pressing issues to occupy minds at Manchester United this week, but it didn't entirely go unnoticed inside the club that Bruno Fernandes' captaincy credentials had again come under the spotlight.
That was certainly the case against Nottingham Forest, the skipper rallying a bedraggled team to claw their back from the abyss and claim what already feels like a valuable three points.The club went into this fixture under pressure, rather than the manager, but there was a desperate need for a win and a performance ahead of next week's trip to Arsenal. They delivered the former and at least Fernandes produced the latter.
But it quickly became apparent this was a training ground move. As Forest's defence pushed up with Rashford holding possession, Fernandes darted inside Brennan Johnson. He was onside when Rashford's pinpoint delivery found him. Fernandes had the simple task to head the ball down to a queue of teammates inside the six-yard box.
Too often this season he has received the ball with his back to goal and been unable to make it stick. He was denied a goal at Tottenham by an excellent save but chances have been few and far better. But in the first three games of this season, it's had the opposite effect. The aggressive press has been too ineffectual and the attacking set-up from corners has been asking for trouble, which is what it delivered 90 seconds into this game.
As with so much of what we've seen in the early stages of this season, it's a question of balance and at the moment it's tilted too far towards attack.Pursuing a left-back after the muscle injury picked up by Luke Shaw in the week looked a little reactionary until Diogo Dalot fluffed his audition for the role against Forest.
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