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In total, the 31-year-old created eight chances against Nottingham Forest, which was four more than any other player, as he tried to overtake Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne in the assists standings.
Speaking in his post-match interview, Fernandes mentioned the record. “I got to 20 today, let’s see, we have one more game,” he said. “It’s the highest I’ve done in the Premier League so I am very happy with it.”
“Obviously, it’s a proud moment,” added the midfielder. “We’re speaking about Thierry and Kevin, two of the main names of the Premier League, and, for me, I’m very grateful and very happy to do it.”
Many were delighted for Fernandes, who was recently voted the Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year, but Roy Keane was far from impressed with the narrative around Sunday’s game at Old Trafford.
On the latest episode of The Overlap, a clearly agitated Keane hit back after Gary Neville praised Fernandes for achieving the feat.
“I just mentioned Bruno’s assist, do we need to give him huge plaudits for getting level with Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne on 20 assists?” asked Neville, who described it as a “mas
“What I heard at United the weekend, honestly, I was raging with it. The whole chat about his assists, and players talking about assists,” he said.
Keane also questioned Fernandes’ mindset, adding: “He got interviewed after the match – and I was watching him – and everyone was talking about his assists, and even the players were… the game was about his assists.
“After the game, he got interviewed, and the captain of Manchester United said, ‘Yeah, a few times I probably should have shot, but I made them passes.’
“Wow. How can a footballer’s mindset be going out to a match and be talking about some individual record? If it happens, he’s going to get all them stats anyway, but to become the main point about Manchester United’s performance over the weekend. I was cringing with all of them.”
“He won’t be winning trophies, not with that mindset of the team yesterday, where they’re giving up two goals, and everyone’s getting all giddy because he’s equalled a record for assists,” said Keane. “It’s mind-boggling. It’s mind-boggling. It’s a circus act.”