90min

Andreas Pereira Defends Bruno Fernandes After Victor Lindelof Confrontation

Fernandes and Lindelof argued on the pitch during United's defeat to Sevilla
Fernandes and Lindelof argued on the pitch during United's defeat to Sevilla / James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images
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Andreas Pereira has defended Bruno Fernandes after his teammate confronted Victor Lindelof during Manchester United's Europa League exit at the hands of Sevilla.

United had taken an early lead through a Fernandes penalty (of course) but went on to spurn a host of opportunities as Sevilla levelled in the first half and then found a winner 12 minutes from time.

Fernandes and Lindelof had an altercation after Sevilla took the lead
Fernandes and Lindelof had an altercation after Sevilla took the lead / James Williamson - AMA/Getty Images

Following Luuk de Jong's 78th minute strike - where both Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Lindelof failed to pick up the Sevilla forward, and the latter was unable to cut out the cross - Fernandes was captured having a heated altercation with the centre back.

After the game, Pereira took to Instagram appearing to support Fernandes. Underneath a post from Bleacher Report which pictured Lindelof arguing with himself accompanied with the caption 'Lindelof only has one person to blame', Pereira replied: "We win as a team but we lose as a team as well. He [Fernandes] didn't blame nobody and would never do that."

Double negative aside, Fernandes shared Pereira's sentiments, and was quick to play down the incident at full time, insisting it was just a regular, heat of the moment discussion.

"It's not about me or Victor, it's about everything," said Fernandes. "What happened between us is nothing. It's normal. It's football. It happens.

"It's looking out for each other. This thing will happen many more times in other teams. The most important thing now is seeing the mistakes we made and look forward to improving in the next games."

The defeat means United have tasted defeat in the semi finals of all three cup competitions this season, following last four exits against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup and Chelsea in the FA Cup.

The Red Devils have not found the net from open play in over 200 minutes of football, with a Fernandes penalty seeing them past FC Copenhagen in the quarter finals after coming up against Karl-Johan Anton Johnsson in inspired form in the Copenhagen goal.