Manchester United: Bruno Fernandes reacts as Rasmus Hojlund goal drought continues | OneFootball

The Dane has not found the net since mid-December and spurned a number of opportunities against Real Sociedad

Hat-trick hero Bruno Fernandes has given an assessment of Rasmus Hojlund’s performance against Real Sociedad, after the Dane’s goal drought went on despite Manchester United’s convincing 4-1 win.

Hojlund has come in for criticism this season, scoring only seven goals in all competitions and not finding the net since mid-December.

The 22-year-old striker had a number of chances which he wasn’t able to take.

However, he won the first of United’s two penalties and laid on the assist for Dalot to make the score 4-1 in stoppage time.

His captain, Fernandes, was keen to defend the Dane’s performance, backing him to hit goalscoring form again.

“He’s a striker,” Fernandes told TNT Sports on the pitch at Old Trafford after the match. “Strikers are all about goals.

“They’re going to be criticised by scoring or not scoring, from outside noise. But from us, from the dressing room, we want Rasmus to score as many as he can.

“But at the same time, we need to understand he won the penalty for us for the first goal and did a lot of movements to attract people. For my last goal, he attracted the defenders which gave the space.”

Fernandes added: “So there’s a lot of things that he does that the outside world probably can’t see. But we see it. We see how much he loves to work and to score. We’re sure the goals will come.”

Fernandes insisted victory was important in ensuring United’s passage to the next round of the Europa League, stressing that the most significant thing is always the result for the Red Devils.

“It’s always important [to win],” he explained. “At this club, it’s all about winning. We want to perform at the best level we can, but we need to win games.

“We are either in or out. The main thing is that we had to back ourselves.”