Bruno Fernandes became the third player in Premier League history to reach 20 assists in a single season as Manchester United defeated Nottingham Forest 3-2 in their Premier League match on Sunday.
The Portuguese, who has been at the forefront of an impressive season from the Red Devils this season, bagged his record-equalling 20th assist of the season to match Arsenal legend Thierry Henry and former Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne’s tally.
The former Sporting CP midfielder has also claimed the Football Writers’ Association (FWA) award and will now be hoping to win the Premier League Player of the Season award.
Manchester United had recorded a valuable point at Sunderland in their last match, but it took them just five minutes to break the deadlock when Luke Shaw controlled a loose ball in the box and fired a low effort into the back of the net, marking his first goal since 2023.
Morato headed Forest back on level terms in the second half, heading home from a superb delivery from Manchester United summer target Elliott Anderson.
Matheus Cunha scored to put Manchester United back in front in controversial circumstances, after VAR deemed a handball by Bryan Mbeumo to be accidental in the buildup.
Fernandes grabbed his record-equalling assist after he found Mbeumo, who finally converted one of his passes to put Manchester United 3-1 ahead.
Anderson then combined with Morgan Gibbs-White to score for Nottingham Forest once again and make the scores 3-2 heading into the final minutes of the encounter.
Diogo Dalot struck the post late on, while Joshua Zirkzee was denied by Matz Sels from a promising position as the game ended 3-2 in favour of Manchester United, who tightened their grip on third position on the Premier League standings.
The Red Devils will now face Brighton in their final game of the season, with Bruno looking to finally break the league’s assist record in that encounter.
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