The reason Ronaldo didn’t execute a penalty in the match against Arsenal

DBasia.news – Bruno Fernandes’ failure to execute a penalty played an important role in making Manchester United lose to Arsenal. The question is, why didn’t Cristiano Ronaldo come forward as executor?

In the match which took place at the Emirates Stadium, Saturday (23/4), Manchester United was defeated by a score of 1-3. But in the game, the Red Devils were able to compensate for the Gunners.

Manchester United started the game poorly after goalkeeper David De Gea conceded in the third minute. The fragile defense led by Raphael Varena was also repeatedly exploited by Arsenal players and the second goal came through Bukayo Saka’s penalty.

But after conceding two goals, Manchester United’s game began to improve. Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal in the 34th minute started the revival of the visitors.

Manchester United increasingly appeared dominant at the beginning of the second half. Ralf Rangnick’s side had a number of golden opportunities to score and equalize.

One of the best opportunities came in the 56th minute when the referee awarded a penalty. The decision was made because Nuno Tavares did handball in the forbidden box.

Surprisingly, Bruno Fernandes stepped up as the penalty taker. In fact, since failing in the match against Aston Villa at the beginning of the season, the task as a penalty taker was handed over to Ronaldo.

It was evident that Fernandes finally failed to carry out his duties properly. Although able to outwit Aaron Ramsdale, his shot actually hit the post.

Questions also surround Fernandes’ decision to run as executor. This was later confirmed by Rangnick.

“The two of them (Ronaldo and Fernandes) communicated and Cristiano told me he didn’t feel good enough, or wasn’t ready. That’s why Bruno took him,” Rangnick said after the game.

“I don’t know (whether the reason Ronaldo didn’t take the penalty was because of his personal tragedy). You have to ask him.”

Fernandes failure to execute a penalty is very unfortunate. The result of the match might have been different had that moment been converted into a goal.

Moreover, not long after that, Arsenal pulled away again through Granit Xhaka’s spectacular goal. But Rangnick was reluctant to blame Fernandes or Ronaldo for being unprepared.

“They take penalties and usually convert penalties into goals. So it’s up to the two of them to decide.”