United goalkeeper: Impossible to save Bruno Fernandes' penalty kick
Bruno Fernandes has been a Manchester United player for a year, and in all that time he has been the first shooter when the referee has awarded the team a penalty kick. The Portuguese quickly became known for using a very special penalty kick technique. This technique has previously been seen by Chelsea player Jorginho practicing, however, Bruno Fernandes has been more effective in execution than his Italian competitor, who this season has missed three penalty kicks for Chelsea.
Manchester United third goalkeeper Lee Grant is also quick to throw roses in the direction of his teammate's whimsical penalty kick technique. Grant believes that Fernandes' choppy approach to the ball makes it extremely problematic to read the midfielder's shooting tactics. He elaborates with the following statement:
Usually I have already formed an opinion about where the penalty kicker intends to shoot during their first or second step. I observe their posture, the angle they come from and through that I make my outcome. With Bruno, however, it is completely impossible to read. His penalty kick style is unique. I will never save one of his kicks if I use my usual routine. I think I snatched one out of 25 penalty kicks from Bruno during training and it was only because he rolled it a little junky towards one of the goal corners.
Since Bruno Fernande's arrival in January 2020, he has scored 15 goals on penalties for Manchester United. He has only missed a single attempt from the 11-meter spot, which happened against Newcastle in October last year.