It's no secret that Manchester United and Bruno Fernandes have had better days than their dire defeat at Spurs on Saturday evening.
Erik Ten Hag's United side crumbled in the second-half, and Spurs were full value for their 2-0 victory after the lifeless performances of some of the Manchester United squad after the break.
United were rightly panned in post-match analysis, though they were the better team for large portions of the first half.
Both Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford had huge opportunities to put their side in front - and Fernandes was fuming after a third goal chance was denied in controversial fashion.
Alejandro Garnacho has struggled in the first two games of the season, but a flash of energy in the first half on Saturday saw him make space for himself to curl a shot towards the top corner.
Christian Romero's outstretched hand blocked Garnacho's shot but, even after a VAR review, no penalty was given.
Speaking to Sky Sports at full-time, Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes questioned whether the incident would generate the same hysteria as last week's last-gasp incident against Wolves.
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Manchester United: Bruno Fernandes questions coverage of controversial incidents
On Monday night, new Manchester United keeper Andre Onana was a lucky man not to be penalised after clattering into two Wolves attackers in injury-time, as the visitors to Old Trafford chased a late equaliser.
Should Wolves have had a penalty? 😬 pic.twitter.com/U2v3fnHhDM
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 14, 2023
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The coverage of the incident in the days since has seen huge criticism of the decision not to award a penalty, and the officiating team who took charge of Monday's game were stood down from action ahead of this weekend's games. Referee Simon Hooper also paid a visit to the Wolves dressing room to apologise to manager Gary O'Neil for the wrong decision having been made.
Speaking after his side were denied what seemed a similarly stonewall penalty with the game tied at 0-0 on Saturday afternoon, Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes was fuming, and questioned whether his side would be afforded the same apology from the match officials:
They [referees] have to start doing interviews after games so they can explain themselves. It's a clear penalty, no excuse for not seeing that, no excuse for VAR not seeing that.
Last week they made a big thing of United not having a penalty against [them] - I want to see what's going to happen this week, if it's going to happen the same show that they did last week.
I want to see if Jon Moss also comes to apologise to our dressing room like they said that they did for the manager of Wolves.
I'll be sitting there and they can come.
Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag will have been concerned by several elements of his team's performance, but things could have been very different if his side had gone in ahead at half-time.
"We deserved a penalty. Absolutely a penalty!" ☹️
Erik ten Hag reacts to Manchester United's defeat to Tottenham 🔊 pic.twitter.com/5ncMeEmwCm— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 19, 2023
In his post-match interview with Sky Sports, Ten Hag praised the first-half performance and echoed Fernandes' sentiment, saying that his side had been denied a penalty.
We had many chances to score a goal - and we deserved a penalty. I don't know why it's not a penalty, it's absolutely a penalty.
He changes the direction of the ball and he's blocking - the hand is wide above. But, okay, you have to accept it.
Manchester United will need to improve their performances if they are to challenge for major honours this year. Their next outing is against Nottingham Forest on Saturday at 3pm.
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