FA urged to act on Fernandes after United star escapes punishment in Foden red-card row

Bruno Fernandes has escaped punishment for his role in the incident that led to Phil Foden’s red card in Manchester United’s 1-0 derby defeat to Manchester City on Sunday, but the debate over whether the FA should act retrospectively shows no sign of dying down.

Foden was dismissed after appearing to retaliate against Fernandes, who had gone to kick the ball before the City midfielder fell on it and was caught by the follow-through. Replays showed Fernandes then appeared to strike Foden in the back — a moment that went unpunished by referee Michael Oliver and has since drawn criticism from several former professionals.

Roy Keane, Jay Bothroyd and Jamie Carragher have all weighed in, with the consensus among pundits being that Fernandes was fortunate to avoid at minimum a booking, and that the disparity in punishment between the two players was difficult to justify.

MEN Sport writers offered differing verdicts on the incident. Tyrone Marshall argued that a retrospective sanction would be harsh, suggesting the slow-motion replays exaggerate the deliberateness of the act. “Watch it in real time and Fernandes goes to kick the ball before Foden has fallen on it,” he wrote, adding that the ball was present when Fernandes began the action — a key distinction from Foden’s retaliatory kick.

Scott Trotter took a harder line, describing Fernandes’ actions as “naive, petty and unnecessary” and arguing that both players’ kicking actions probably merited the same punishment. “Fernandes knew exactly what he was doing,” he wrote, though he stopped short of calling for a red card, suggesting yellow cards for both would have been a defensible outcome.

The broader frustration centres on United’s failure to capitalise on the man advantage that Foden’s dismissal created. Despite playing with 10 men for the majority of the match, City held firm under manager Michael Carrick’s side, leaving United with a defeat and a controversy that has overshadowed the result itself.

Whether the FA will take any further action against Fernandes remains to be seen. Retrospective bans for incidents missed by match officials are possible under FA rules, though the threshold for intervention — particularly for actions deemed marginal in real time — is high.