Bruno Fernandes’ return to midfield role helps Man Utd in win over Southampton

The Bruno Fernandes of old was on display as Manchester United beat Southampton 3-0 as the Premier League returned this weekend.

Fernandes had a slightly rough start to the season with regards to goal contributions. He failed to score or assist in any of Man Utd’s first three Premier League matches.

But it wasn’t his fault. Fernandes was being played out of position in Man Utd’s opening two games, starting up front in the absence of Rasmus Hojlund — and Erik ten Hag slowly bedding Joshua Zirkzee into the lineup.

After three games, Fernandes did still lead Man Utd for shots (eight) and had the joint-most efforts on target (three). But his creativity took a hit. The 30-year-old created three chances in total, with all three coming in the 2-1 defeat to Brighton.

Against Liverpool before the international break, Fernandes was dropped back to his No.10 role but Man Utd as a whole struggled now.

But against Southampton, Fernandes was allowed to flex his muscles. And it’s no surprise that Man Utd reaped the rewards.

The Red Devils had actually started under pressure with Southampton looking the more threatening, particularly in Tyler Dibling’s battle with Diogo Dalot. A key moment came in the 30th minute when Dibling was brought down by Dalot in the box.

A chance for Southampton to take the lead, Cameron Archer took responsibility. But the 22-year-old effort was poor, as was his rebound strike, both saved by Andre Onana.

Five minutes later, Man Utd were ahead and Fernandes was involved. It came through a short corner, taking to Fernandes. With Southampton struggling to rejig their line in the box, Fernandes floated a delicious ball to the back post. Matthijs de Ligt beat a poor offside line to put Man Utd ahead with his first goal for the club.

Fernandes’ first assist of the season, the Portuguese midfielder has now been directly involved in seven goals against Southampton in the Premier League.

Now, that was Fernandes’ only chance created of the game, but his deeper starting position allowed the midfielder to influence in other ways. Fernandes completed three take-ons, the joint-most of any Man Utd player and won seven of his 15 duels. He also made 17 passes in the final third and two crosses.

Fernandes had 68 touches and, vitally, four tackles. The four tackles matched his tally from the defeat to Liverpool, and it’s not a coincidence that he also played deeper then.

When he was playing as a striker, Fernandes had three tackles combined across the two matches, and Man Utd lost out. A selfless player, Fernandes will play wherever is best for the team, popping up on the edge of both boxes.

There was also a moment of return for Marcus Rashford, who ended a long scoring drought with a nice curling effort into the bottom corner to make it 2-0 before half-time.

Any chance of a Southampton fightback was put to bed when Jack Stephens was sent off for a high challenge on Alejandro Garnacho. Garnacho went on to cap off the win deep into injury time, handing Southampton their 400th Premier League defeat.

Southampton’s Jack Grealish

Although Southampton were on the losing side, there was a lot of positives for Russell Martin to take surrounding Tyler Dibling.

The 18-year-old came through Southampton’s academy, via a short stay at Chelsea, and made his first-team debut in the EFL Cup last year. Last season he was largely restricted to minutes in the cup, though he was on the bench 16 times in the Championship making one brief cameo.

Dibling has been more involved in the Premier League this season, though. The teenager played in all three of Southampton’s league matches before the international break, coming off the bench against Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Brentford.

Against Man Utd, he got his first league start, and Dibling didn’t look out of place. He gave Dalot a torrid time in the first half, including winning a penalty.

Dibling completed one take-on and won five of his nine duels overall before coming off just after the hour mark. He had one shot, and hit the target, and created one chance.

An exciting watch, but fans may also be keeping an eye on Dibling for another reason. Players’ frustrations with shin pads is well known, but Dibling took avoiding their use to a new level.

It was first noticed against Brentford, but lining up on Saturday, Dibling played with his socks as low as they could possibly go. There were no visible shin pads, with Dibling going as small as he possibly could.

While shin pads are part of the “compulsory equipment” under Ifab’s Laws, players are responsible for the “size and suitability” of their shin pads. So, as long as Dibling had some on, he was good to go.

But why does Dibling wear low socks and tiny shin pads?

“One day [former Southampton academy teammate] Jimmy Morgan just told me to do it in a game, and I’ve stuck with it ever since!” Dibling told SouthamptonWorld.