This story was first published after Manchester United’s 5-2 win over Ipswich Town. It has been updated in September 2026 to reflect where things stand now. Bruno Fernandes scored a hat-trick that day. The club’s official Inside Carrington series later revealed the thinking behind one of his spot-kicks. Supporters searching for the Bruno Fernandes penalty technique behind that goal can still find the full explanation below, in his own words.
Updated introduction: September 2026 status
The win over Ipswich came straight after United had opened their season with a defeat away to Hull City. The response mattered. Fernandes’ hat-trick, including a penalty, helped settle any early nerves. His account of the build-up to that spot-kick remains one of the clearest insights into how he approaches penalties, and it still holds up now.
How Fernandes prepared with the goalkeepers’ coach
Fernandes explained that his research starts well before he steps up to take a penalty. He speaks with United’s goalkeepers’ coach in advance. That conversation helps him build a picture of the opposition keeper’s habits.
“I speak always with the goalkeepers coach for him to make me understand what’s the most difficult thing that this goalkeeper could get, because they see the penalties, and he said, ‘Look, he’s very tall. It’s very difficult for him to just go when you kick the ball, even being tall, to react to that’. So he needs to sort of like have movement on himself,” Fernandes said.
That single piece of analysis shaped everything Fernandes did next. It concerned the Ipswich goalkeeper’s height, and his need for movement to react.
Mind games and the stutter jump at Old Trafford
Before Fernandes even struck the ball, the goalkeeper tried his own tactics to unsettle him. Fernandes described the scene as he placed the ball on the spot.
“He [the goalkeeper] was waiting as the referee told me to put the ball down, and he was still trying to make eye contact with me and try to smile and everything. And then he ended up being more on his right side of the goal. I never look at the goalkeeper in the first instance,” Fernandes said.
Fernandes did not commit early. Instead, he used the jump technique his coach’s advice had pointed him towards, designed to force the keeper into moving before the ball was struck.
“So when I did, when I did that and I went to do the jump, he was running into the middle and he was stuck on his left foot. So basically he couldn’t get back there [to his right side],” he said.
This is only one method in his repertoire. It is not a fixed routine he follows every time.
“Sometimes I just choose a side and I go and I don’t do the jump and I just choose a side. But I think I have more success doing this than just choosing a side and going,” Fernandes said.
Bruno Fernandes penalty technique and career record
In short, the Bruno Fernandes penalty technique combines pre-match research with a deliberate jump that delays his run-up. This forces the goalkeeper to move first. He then reacts to whichever side the keeper leaves open, rather than committing to a side in advance.
That approach has produced a strong record. Fernandes has scored 68 of his 76 career penalties, a success rate of around 89 percent. It is a figure well beyond the level of guesswork. He has no patience, either, for critics who focus only on how many penalties he takes rather than how often he scores them.
“I like to score penalties because people always moan about me scoring penalties, so I like to make them moan about it!” Fernandes said.
The full breakdown of his process, including further detail on his conversations with the goalkeepers’ coach, is available in the original interview on his penalty process.
What happens next
Fernandes’ explanation of the Ipswich penalty remains the clearest public account of his method. It is built on research, patience and a willingness to adapt on the day. His record of 68 from 76 stands as the evidence behind it. Nothing beyond what he has already said publicly is confirmed about how his routine will evolve, so this update reflects only what is known as of September 2026.
