Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes labelled ‘whiny, little moaning pain in the b*tt’ by ex-Chelsea star for referee complaint before penalty miss

Former Chelsea star Craig Burley has slammed Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes after his reaction towards the referee in the Fulham draw. The pundit has labeled him a ‘whiny, little moaning pain in the b*tt’ for complaining about the referee accidentally nudging him before the penalty.

Speaking on ESPN FC, Burley said that Fernandes was making a mountain out of a molehill by acting as if the referee ran into him while he was about to kick the ball. He believes that other players would have laughed it off, but the Manchester United midfielder used it to moan on the pitch. He said:

“I want to talk about that incident with the penalty kick. What a whiny, little moaning pain in the butt. What an embarrassment! The referee inadvertently nudged him as he was trying to back off with everybody in position, and yet he [Bruno] made out [as if] the referee had almost ran into him in the process of him running up to take the penalty."

“Any other player would have laughed it off and taken that penalty within the next 10 seconds. And yet he whined and moaned and cried, as he generally does, about something so innocuous. To me, that isolated scenario in the game, encapsulates a lot of his career at Manchester United. A lot of it has been good, but there’s a sideshow and we saw it again today. It was embarrassing beyond belief.”

Bruno Fernandes ended up missing the penalty, but Manchester United managed to take the lead through an own goal in the second half. However, they could not leave Craven Cottage with all three points as Emile Smith Rowe equalized soon after.

Bruno Fernandes comments on penalty miss for Manchester United vs Fulham

Bruno Fernandes spoke about his penalty miss against Fulham and admitted that the referee's nudging upset him. However, the Red Devils captain did not want to use it as an excuse for his miss and told Sky Sports:

"Yeah, I was upset. Obviously, as a penalty taker, like everyone, you have your own routine. You have your own things that you do. It upset me because the referee didn't apologise. And that was what triggered me in the moment. But that is no excuse for missing the penalty. I just took a bad hit of the ball, I put my foot too under the ball, and that's why it ended up going over the bar."

Manchester United have one point from their first two matches following the loss to Arsenal on the opening day. They face Grimsby Town next in the Carabao Cup before taking on Burnley, after which the players will split for international duty.