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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes continued his excellent form ahead of Euro 2024 with another fine performance for Portugal as they beat Ireland 3-0.
Joao Felix opened the scoring in the first 18 minutes of the restart and sent Portugal on their way. It was Fernandes who assisted Felix’s opener.
Second-half goals in the 50th and 60th minutes from Cristiano Ronaldo sealed the deal for Portugal in their final friendly clash before they begin their Euro 2024 campaign in Germany.
Fernandes played all 90 minutes of action.
During his time on the pitch, the midfielder registered 90 touches of the ball and successfully delivered 69 of the 74 passes he attempted, managing an individual pass success rate of 93%.
Six of Fernandes’ passes were key passes.
With five crosses and three long balls, he tried to find his Selecao teammate. He found the intended target with one of his crosses and two of the three long balls he pinged.
The 29-year-old created one great chance and had two shots to his name. One was on target while the other needed Caoimhin Kelleher in the Ireland net to spring into action.
United’s captain started three dribbles, but only completed one of them. He entered three ground duels and only once reached the top.
Fernandes shared the pitch with United team-mate Diogo Dalot, who played just 45 minutes before being replaced by Nelson Semedo. Roberto Martinez made the same personnel change in Portugal’s previous match against Croatia and this may be an indication of the fact that he has not agreed a guaranteed starting right-back for Euro 2024.
Dalot touched the ball 41 times and delivered 33 of the 34 passes he attempted – a passing accuracy of 97%. One of his passes was a crucial pass.
The United defender has won half of his competitions at the ground. He also threw in one move.
(Statistics obtained from Sofascore)
All attention for Fernandes, Dalot and their international teammates now shifts to their first Euro 2024 group clash against the Czech Republic in a week’s time.
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