Carrick left Bruno Fernandes on the bench, and Bournemouth won 3-0 at Old Trafford to leave United 16th
Rayan and Marcus Tavernier scored five minutes apart before half-time and Evanilson added a third, as Manchester United went an eighth game without a win with their captain unused.
Oct 25, 2026
Michael Carrick left Bruno Fernandes on the bench at Old Trafford on Sunday and kept him there for the full 90 minutes. Bournemouth scored twice in five minutes before half-time and once after it, and Manchester United lost 3-0. They have gone eight games without a win in all competitions, and they are 16th in the Premier League.
The captain on the bench
Fernandes was left out after what he said following Wednesday’s 4-1 defeat at Como. Asked about United’s tactics that night, he said it was “on the manager and on the staff to see it, it’s not on me.” Before kick-off on Sunday, Carrick told Sky Sports his reasons were “pure football”. Lisandro Martínez, who had criticised the club’s hierarchy after the defeat at Atlético Madrid, started on the bench too.
If the point was to get a reaction from the players who did start, it did not work. United had little going forward in the first half, and they did not test Djordje Petrovic until the 40th minute, when he saved from Bryan Mbeumo. By then they were already behind.
Five minutes before half-time
Ayden Heaven was booked for a foul on Evanilson out wide on 37 minutes, and the free-kick cost United straight away. Justin Kluivert put it into the box and Rayan finished on 38 minutes. Five minutes later Leny Yoro lost his footing on the ball, Adrien Truffert played it through and Marcus Tavernier scored the second.
Carrick sent on Matheus Cunha for Youri Tielemans at half-time. Fernandes stayed where he was. Bournemouth had a third ruled out for offside soon after the restart, when Evanilson went clean through on Senne Lammens, and Lammens then had to save from Rayan. On 65 minutes Martínez came on for Heaven.
The third came on 71 minutes. United’s defence left Lammens exposed again, Evanilson beat him, and plenty of the home crowd started heading for the exits. The ones who stayed turned on Carrick first and on the board after that.
Bournemouth’s week
Marco Rose’s side have won three games in eight days. They beat Sunderland 2-0 at home on 18 October, beat Ruben Amorim’s Milan 3-0 in the Europa League on Thursday, and now this. The win takes them up to 13th.
United have one league win from eight games. Their next match is at Chelsea on Saturday, 31 October. Sky Sports reported before Sunday that this game could decide a lot for Carrick, and I struggle to see how a 3-0 home defeat, with the captain watching from the bench, makes his position anything but harder to defend.