Bruno Fernandes saved the day for Erik ten Hag’s struggling Manchester United in a spirited recovery against basement-dwelling Sheffield United, bagging two goals and an assist in a 4-2 come-from-behind victory. The win ended United’s four-match winless streak in the Premier League, pushing them up to sixth place, just days after their gruelling FA Cup semi-final win over second division side Coventry. Sheffield United, set to play in the lower division next season, unexpectedly took the lead twice, courtesy of Chris Wilder’s team before Manchester United’s captain Bruno Fernandes took charge.
In the early stages, the hosts were off to a good start, with 83% possession and 11 attempts, only for Sheffield United’s Jayden Bogle to make the most of an Andre Onana mistake and register the first goal. A quick equalizer was produced by Harry Maguire against his former team, but the Blades regained the advantage early in the second half via Ben Brereton Diaz. However, Bruno Fernandes turned things around by scoring a penalty, allowing Sheffield United to concede their 90th goal of the season, a dismal record in a 38-match Premier League season. Fernandes then shot a stunner from 25 yards on the 81st-minute mark and set Rasmus Højlund up to extend the lead four minutes later.
In another match, Crystal Palace emerged victorious over Newcastle 2-0, thanks to a fifth consecutive home goal from Jean-Philippe Mateta. Oliver Glasner’s squad outplayed Newcastle, earning their third consecutive Premier League win, the latest of which followed significant victories against West Ham and Liverpool. Mateta’s crucial goal broke the 0-0 tie in the 55th minute, and he added another one towards the end, snapping Newcastle’s four-match undefeated streak and throwing their chances for European football next season into uncertainty.
Finally, controversial ref Stuart Attwell found himself the centre of attention as he negated a goal from the Wolves, resulting in a 1-0 win for Bournemouth at Molineux.
Attwell has been subject of scrutiny due to his involvement as the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in Nottingham Forest’s 2-0 loss to Everton, a game in which Forest were denied three penalties leading them to hint at bias, given his allegiance to Luton, their relegation rivals.
He continued to court controversy after he decided that Matheus Cunha had committed a foul on Justin Kluivert during a situation off-the-ball as part of Hee Chan Hwang’s game-leveling goal in the second half – seemingly negating Antoine Semenyo’s first goal. Despite this event not being seen in live play, Attwell chose to award the foul after Darren England, his VAR, recommended him to review the footage on the sideline monitor.
Attwell’s eventful match continued as he gave Bournemouth defender Milos Kerkez a direct red card following a foul on Matt Doherty, a decision which stood the test of another VAR review.
As a result of this contentious decision-making, Semenyo’s early goal for Bournemouth was enough to secure their record-matching sixth away victory of the Premier League season.
This win brought them within two points of surpassing their personal best tally in Premier League, which stands at 45, just a point behind their 2016/2017 season record.
On the other hand, Wolves struggled, making it their seventh consecutive game without a victory in any tournament, as they stagger towards the end of the season with mounting injuries.