Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes has called on his teammates to “take more risks and be braver” after their heavy defeat to Manchester City in the derby.
City were comfortable 3–0 winners at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. Phil Foden opened the scoring in the 18th minute before Erling Haaland struck twice in the second half to seal the result.
The loss ended United’s hopes of building on their win against Burnley before the international break. Manager Ruben Amorim is still waiting for back-to-back league victories since taking charge.
Speaking after the game, Fernandes admitted United fell short.
“You have to look at what we did well, but it was not enough because we want to win football matches,” he told Sky Sports. “We need to score goals and not concede. We created chances but could not finish them, and the goals we let in could have been avoided.”
He also urged the team to show more courage in attack.
“When we play from the back, City squeeze us and the pitch becomes very tight. We need to take more risks and be braver in those moments,” Fernandes said.
Despite some positives in possession, Fernandes accepted City were the smarter side.
“We wanted what City got, which is the three points. They have a very good team and good players, and they took their chances,” he added.
United will now look to bounce back when they host Chelsea at Old Trafford on Saturday.