Fernandes concedes Carrick was right to bench him before Roma turnaround

Bruno Fernandes has accepted that Michael Carrick was justified in dropping him last month, even as he insisted Manchester United's dramatic 3-2 comeback win over Roma had not been the result that saved his manager's job.

United trailed 2-0 at Old Trafford before fighting back to beat the Italian side in the Champions League, a victory that ended a run of ten matches without a win, according to the Independent.

The turnaround followed a difficult few weeks in which Fernandes had publicly criticised United's lack of pressing after a 4-1 defeat to Como in the competition. Carrick responded by leaving his captain out of the squad entirely for the following match, a 3-0 loss at Bournemouth, naming him an unused substitute.

Fernandes addressed the fallout in a post-match interview with Amazon Prime Video after the Roma win, reflecting on his manager's decision to drop him. "The manager took a decision of making myself be on the bench because I wasn't performing, and that's fair," he said.

He went on to acknowledge that many had read the call as retaliation for his earlier comments. "Everyone felt that was a punishment for the words that I had said. And if it was, it was right. The manager is the one that makes the decisions. I have to accept them. I have to go forward with that," he added, before stressing his commitment to the dressing room and stating it "doesn't change my aim to win every f***ing game that I have ahead of me."

Fernandes was directly involved in United's revival, converting a twice-taken penalty for the opening goal of the comeback.

Matheus Cunha supplied the rest, levelling the score after pouncing on a defensive error before scoring what proved to be the winner in the 86th minute, according to Metro Football.

The Brazilian's night did not end cleanly. He was booked for removing his shirt and leaping into the crowd in celebration, then picked up a second yellow card in stoppage time for what Metro Football described as an overzealous challenge, leaving United to see out the closing stages with ten men.

Cunha's post-match celebrations were also interrupted. Television cameras caught Carrick appearing to instruct his forward to head straight down the tunnel after the final whistle, with Cunha seen pleading with his manager on the pitch before eventually making his way off, flanked by a club official.

Fernandes was careful not to frame the Roma result as a rescue act for Carrick, even while praising the response from the squad. The win arrests United's longest winless sequence of the campaign without settling the broader questions over the manager's standing, questions Fernandes himself had helped raise with his comments after the Como defeat.

Carrick's side will now look to build on the Roma result after a period in which both results and dressing-room relations had come under scrutiny in quick succession.