Rio Ferdinand makes feelings clear about Bruno Fernandes blaming referee after Manchester United penalty miss

Manchester United icon Rio Ferdinand has offered his opinion on Bruno Fernandes pointing fingers at the referee for interrupting his routine before the penalty miss against Fulham. Ruben Amorim's men failed to make it nine consecutive away wins against Fulham on Sunday, after they were held to a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage.

The Red Devils enjoyed a scintillating start to the game, with Matheus Cunha hitting the woodwork and troubling the hosts on more than one occasion. Fulham looked like they were in deep trouble when Calvin Bassey was punished for grappling Mason Mount to the floor during a corner-kick, after intervention from the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).

Fernandes stepped up to take the resulting penalty, but referee Chris Kavanagh accidentally backtracked onto him during the set up. The Manchester United captain appeared frustrated and was forced to set himself up again, before skying his penalty over the crossbar.

Even though the visitors took the lead in the 58th minute through an own goal from Rodrigo Muniz, Fulham sealed a point courtesy of substitute Emile Smith Rowe's 73rd minute strike.

In the wake of the disappointment of the draw, Fernandes stated that he was upset with the referee for not apologising. However, the Portugal international admitted that it was no excuse for him missing the penalty:

He told reporters [via ESPN]:

"I was upset. As a penalty-taker, you have your own routines, your own things that you do.

"It upset me because the referee didn't apologise. That is what triggered me in that moment, but that's not the excuse for missing the penalty.

"I had a very bad hit on the ball. I put my foot too under the ball and that's why it ended up going over the bar."

Speaking on Rio Ferdinand Presents, former Manchester United defender Ferdinand said that such interruptions can happen. But he maintained that Fernandes shouldn't have allowed for something like that to disturb him.

Ferdinand stated:

“It can affect you, the referee walking in or interrupting your routine. A lot of players have routines, it’s like for a boxer, if you ring walk is disturbed at any point, you’ve got to get back into the groove [again].

"You can’t allow for something like that to disturb you and then not get it right. I just hope he’s not blaming [the referee] for why he’s missed.”

Notably, Manchester United suffered a 1-0 loss in their opening game of the season against Arsenal at Old Trafford. They are currently 16th in the table with just a solitary point.

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"We came here to win" - Bruno Fernandes shares disappointment with Manchester United draw

After having taken the lead in the game, it seemed like Manchester United were on their way to securing three points. However, Fernandes failed to track Smith Rowe's run into the penalty area and the former Arsenal star poked home the equaliser from Alex Iwobi's cross.

Fernandes shared his disappointment with the result. He told reporters:

"We cannot be satisfied with one point. We came here to win the game. We were defending very well, but in one of them they got their goal.

"For us, it is very disappointing to not win the game today."

Manchester United next face Grimsby Town in the second round of the EFL Cup before hosting newly-promoted Burnley in the Premier League on August 30, Saturday.