Manchester United staged a dramatic second-half comeback to beat Roma 3-2 in the Champions League at Old Trafford on Tuesday, ending a nine-match winless run. Captain Bruno Fernandes converted a 58th-minute penalty to spark the revival from 2-0 down, securing only the team's second win in four European games this season.
Speaking after the match, Fernandes dismissed recent media reports about a rift with head coach Michael Carrick. "A lot of lies" had been written about their relationship, the 32-year-old told Amazon Prime. He said they had "cleared the air" and that his benching after criticising Carrick's tactics following a 4-1 loss at Como was due to performance, not punishment. "If it was a punishment for the words that I had, it was right. The manager is the one who makes the decisions," Fernandes added.
The victory eases pressure on Carrick, 45, who was given a two-year contract after guiding United back into the Champions League last season with 12 wins in 17 games. This term, however, United sit 17th in the Premier League with just one win from nine matches. The board opted to retain Carrick after the Bournemouth game, and the Roma win lifts United to 17th in the Champions League league phase table.
Midfielder Youri Tielemans described the comeback as "big character, big fight" and said the players must "stick behind him, fight for him and fight for the club." Kobbie Mainoo called the result a "big sigh of relief" after the extended winless streak.
Former Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, supported Fernandes' stance, noting that media reports often represent only a fraction of the truth. He hoped United and Carrick could "draw a line under all this public stuff and get back to winning games."
