Bruno Fernandes is targeting more individual honours after being named Manchester United's Player of the Year for a second straight season but wants to supplement such accolades with team trophies.
Fernandes followed in the footsteps of United greats Cristiano Ronaldo and Ruud van Nistelrooy after the Portugal international became only the fifth player in United history to win the club's annual award in consecutive campaigns.
Roy Keane and David de Gea have also received the distinction in back-to-back years.
Fernandes claimed the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year gong on Tuesday after receiving an overwhelming 63 per cent of the votes cast by supporters; Luke Shaw came in second place on 21 per cent.
He edged out Anthony Martial to last year's award despite only signing for United in January 2020, having made a huge immediate impact.
Fernandes came out on top in another category, Goal of the Season, for his sublime chip against Everton in February, but it was the main prize that was the focus of an interview with the club's in-house TV station in the wake Tuesday's 1-1 draw with Fulham.
Asked when it meant to win the Player of the Year, he said: "A lot. I always said that individual trophies are really good for players. It lifts you up, I would never say I don't want individual trophies, but it's not more important than a team trophy for me. But it's always important.
"[It means] you're doing something well, you're doing something good, doing the right things means you can do a little bit more, improve a little bit more.
"But, at the same time it means that the people are liking you, like the way you play, the way you trying to help the team, the way you do things, so that's very important for me.
"But more important than that is winning a trophy at the end of the season and this is what it's about because football is a team sport and for me it's about winning trophies."
His double award win this season, added to his prize from 2019-20, mean Fernandes is creating a reasonable collection, not that he is concerned about running out of space.
"Don't worry, I'll get a bigger [trophy cabinet] if needed," he joked.
After all, Fernandes could yet add further honours as the season approaches its conclusion, though his compatriot Ruben Dias of Manchester City appears to be the favourite for many of the Premier League's end-of-campaign individual prizes.
Nevertheless, it has been a wonderful season for Fernandes, the aforementioned strike against Everton being one of 28 goals he has scored in all competitions this term, while he has also added 18 assists in a fine individual campaign.
Eighteen of his goals and 12 of the assists have come in 37 Premier League appearances, having featured in every top-flight game for United – though the assist credited to him against Fulham was questionable with replays unable to conclusively show that he did actually flick the ball on for Edinson Cavani's remarkable effort.
Fernandes' influence runs deeper than often being on hand to tuck home or play the final pass: he is a key cog in United's overall build-up play, as highlighted by sequence data.
He has been involved in more open-play passing sequences that end in a shot (239) than any other Premier League player in 2020-21, while only Harry Kane (34) has had a hand in more moves that have ended in a goal (33 for Fernandes).
But the metrics that best underline Fernandes' importance are 'multi involvements', which relate to a player featuring in the build-up to a shot-ending sequence as well as either creating the chance at the end of the move or taking the eventual shot.
On 21 occasions he has been the one taking the shot having previously played a part in the move, while his chances created at the end of such sequences stand at 25 – both are highs for the Premier League this season.
It means Fernandes holds incredible influence over how United attack, but also how they craft opportunities.
While they will finish second in the Premier League this term, fans will dread to think where they would be without him.
Gonzalo Montiel the penalty hero again as Sevilla win seventh Europa League
Gonzalo Montiel was the penalty hero once more as Sevilla made it a magnificent seven in the Europa League and handed Roma boss Jose Mourinho his first defeat in a European final.
Mourinho was on track to become the most decorated European manager in history with six trophies when Paulo Dybala defied an ankle injury he has been carrying for the last month to put the Serie A side in front in a scrappy affair in Budapest.
Gianluca Mancini, who had provided the assist for Dybala, put into his own net as the game finished 1-1 after 120 minutes then missed from the spot, as did Roger Ibanez, before Montiel scored the decisive penalty to secure a 4-1 shootout win for the Spaniards.
The Argentinian, who scored the winning spot-kick in last year’s World Cup final, initially missed from 12 yards but Rui Patricio coming off his line before the ball was struck meant a retake, and Montiel this time made no mistake.
While Sevilla claimed a record-extending seventh Europa League crown and qualify for next season’s Champions League, they had to do it in ugly fashion, with regular stoppages in play and players and coaches on both sides spoken to or warned by referee Anthony Taylor and fourth official Michael Oliver.
There were few openings as both sides started tentatively while there were regular interruptions, with both benches tetchy from the off, aware of what was at stake, and keeping Taylor on his toes.
The English referee had his first major decision when checking VAR after his countryman Tammy Abraham took a blow to the head but Nemanja Gudelj winning the ball meant no penalty was given.
The game came to life when Ivan Rakitic was dispossessed in his own half and while Sevilla’s defence seemed to anticipate a foul being given, Mancini took advantage and his through ball allowed Dybala to slot across Bono in the 35th minute. Amid howls of protest from Sevilla, substitute Rafa Mir was booked.
Lorenzo Pellegrini was cautioned for diving in the area and the constant breaks in play meant seven minutes were tagged on at the end of the first half, when Rakitic’s thundering effort from 25 yards thudded low off Patricio’s left-hand post.
Erik Lamela and Suso were brought on after the interval as Sevilla flew out of the traps, penning back Roma in their own half. The pressure told in the 55th minute as Mancini turned into his own net as he sought to stop Lucas Ocampos from latching on to Jesus Navas’ devilish whipped cross.
Sevilla were shown plenty of the ball but Roma almost scored again as a free-kick from Dybala, in his last involvement of the night before he was substituted, saw Abraham stab at Bono and amid a goalmouth scramble, the ball fell to an off-balance Ibanez, who sliced the rebound wide.
Ibanez’s night might have gotten worse when, with a quarter of an hour left, Ocampos went over the Roma defender’s trailing leg and Taylor pointed to the spot. With Mourinho and his coaches incandescent on the touchline, Taylor rescinded the penalty after a VAR check highlighted minimal, if any, contact.
It was Roma’s turn to appeal for a penalty soon after when the ball hit Fernando’s arm by his side. Taylor was unconvinced and then, not for the first time, headed to the Roma bench brandishing his yellow card.
While the names piled up in the official’s notebook, Roma almost had the last laugh but Andrea Belotti, on for Abraham, miscued a volley after a cute free-kick over the wall.
Fernando flashed wide as the match went to an additional 30 minutes, where both teams seemed reluctant to gamble.
Mourinho was booked for one of several confrontations with fourth official Oliver but after little action, Chris Smalling almost won it at the death but his looping header in the 10th minute of time added on from a corner came back off the bar.
The shootout started with Ocampos and Lamela netting either side of Bryan Cristante doing so for Roma but it was first blood to Sevilla when Mancini’s thunderous effort came back off a diving Bono’s legs.
Ibanez then saw his effort come back off the post and while Patricio seemed to have given Roma a glimmer when tipping Montiel’s spot-kick on to the post, the Portuguese’s encroachment gave the LaLiga player another chance he did not spurn.
We’ve got to believe we can pull off a miracle – Inverness captain Sean Welsh
Captain Sean Welsh has told his Inverness team-mates they have to believe they can pull off “a miracle” in what will be the biggest game of his career this Saturday.
The cinch Championship side are big underdogs for their Scottish Cup final showdown with Celtic, who are bidding to complete a domestic treble.
Welsh knows it will take a huge effort to pull off an upset at Hampden but the 33-year-old is adamant his team have a chance.
“It ranks at the very top for me,” said the former Partick Thistle and Falkirk midfielder when asked about the size of the game in the context of his career.
“It’s not very often you get to play on an occasion like this, especially at my age getting to the latter stages of my career. I am thoroughly looking forward to it.
“We’ve got to believe, I’ve said that to the lads all week. We’ve got to believe we can pull off a miracle.
“We don’t just want to go there for a day out and get caught up in the occasion.
“We know it’s a massive challenge in front of us, but we’ve got to have belief in ourselves.
“We know we have a good group and we know we are going to be up against it at times in the game but we’ve got to stick together and have that belief that we can do it.”
Celtic won only two of their closing six Premiership matches as they had the title wrapped up with time to spare, but Welsh dismissed any notion that his team can draw encouragement from the champions’ recent form dip.
“I don’t think you can look too much into that,” he added.
“They wrapped up the title early doors and then had a few results they probably weren’t happy with but you saw at the weekend (when they beat Aberdeen 5-0) they can turn it on when they need to. I’m sure they’ll be right up for this.
“It’s not going to make much difference to us, we know how hard the challenge is going to be.”
Inverness will have gone more than four weeks without a competitive game by the time they run out at Hampden on Saturday.
Although Welsh admits it is “not ideal” in terms of maintaining match sharpness, he feels the month-long break has at least allowed them to banish any lingering disappointment after they lost to Ayr in their final Championship fixture and missed out on the play-offs.
“It was good to get some time to get over what happened in the last game of the season,” he said.
“That was a difficult night and we were all very disappointed to miss out on the play-offs so the time away was good for us to clear our minds and get over it.
“We didn’t want that lingering going into this massive game.
“We’ve come back in refreshed and excited and we’re looking forward to it.”
Diogo Dalot happy to continue ‘special journey’ after signing new Man Utd deal
Diogo Dalot says everyone at Manchester United feels like they are “at the start of a special journey” after signing a new deal until at least 2028.
The 24-year-old right-back joined from Porto in 2018 and has gone on to make 107 appearances in all competitions for the club.
Dalot, who spent the 2020-21 season on loan at AC Milan, has now signed new terms at Old Trafford for the next five years, with the option of a further season.
“Playing for Manchester United is one of the highest honours that you can have in football,” the 11-cap Portugal international said.
“We have shared some fantastic moments over the past five years and I’ve grown so much and my passion for this incredible club has only increased since the day that I joined.
“As a group of players, we all feel like we are at the start of a special journey right now.
“I can assure you that I will dedicate myself relentlessly to helping this group to achieve our aims and make the fans proud of this team.
“That drive continues this week with everyone intensely focused on preparations for the FA Cup final.”
Dalot began the season superbly under Erik ten Hag, but much-improved Aaron Wan-Bissaka may get the nod to start Saturday’s FA Cup final at right-back.
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Irrespective of his role against Manchester City this weekend, United football director John Murtough is delighted by the strides the full-back has made.
“Diogo is an excellent defender, with a great combination of pace, strength and versatility,” he said. “He has consistently developed, improving year-on-year since joining the club in 2018.
“Diogo’s work ethic and professionalism is superb; the way in which he prepares himself every day in order to perform at his highest level is exactly what we all want from a Manchester United player.
“Diogo has a strong mentality, high standards and a great personality, and we are delighted that he will remain an important member of the squad for the coming years.”
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