“He’s had a few ups and downs this season” – Wes Brown insists Manchester United man should maintain level displayed against Villa 

Former Manchester United defender Wes Brown has urged Bruno Fernandes to build upon his performance against Aston Villa and continue to find himself in threatening positions.

The Portugal international produced one of his best performances of the season on Saturday, scoring a brace in a 2-2 draw at Villa Park. A goal on either side of half-time by Fernandes saw the Red Devils secure a two-goal cushion.

Unfortunately, the visitors took their eye off the ball in the latter stages of the game and saw Aston Villa mount an impressive comeback.

With Cristiano Ronaldo ruled out with a hip injury, the onus was on Fernandes to inspire his team, and the attacking midfielder did not disappoint. Brown was impressed with the way the 27-year-old was creating goalscoring chances for himself and challenged him to continue in the same vein.

Speaking to Manchester United’s official media outlet, Brown said:

“He was getting himself into those positions where we like to see him. He was scoring the two goals and bringing some of that quality back that he gave us a lot last season and in probably every game. You could see he was back into it.”

Brown thought the second goal was fantastic and expressed his desire to see Fernandes take his chances over the remainder of the season. He added:

“We need to see more from him, he has got to keep that going now, but it was a very good performance from him. The first goal, he got a bit lucky with it, but the second goal was fantastic. He was back about the pitch, you could see that energy in him and he was looking to score. Hopefully we will see that again, because he’s had a few ups and downs this season.”

The Portuguese midfielder has featured in 26 games in all competitions for Manchester United this season, scoring seven goals and setting up nine more.

Bruno Fernandes plays better without Cristiano Ronaldo in the Manchester United team

Bruno Fernandes was United’s big, bright takeaway from their disappointing 2-2 draw with Aston Villa on Saturday.

In the absence of Ronaldo, the Portuguese playmaker scored twice for the visitors to take his Premier League goal tally to seven in 19 games.

Also ReadArticle Continues below

Interestingly, out of his seven goals, five have come in the four games in which Ronaldo did not feature. Playing alongside the Manchester United no.7, Fernandes scored only twice in the 15 remaining league games.