Bruno Fernandes’s 50th penalty for Manchester United delivered his 112th goal for the club, but it was almost a very different outcome for the captain in Tuesday’s eventual Champions League win against a strong Roma team at Old Trafford.

United had labored during the first half of the contest, conceding twice in the opening 15 minutes. Remarkably, it was the first time they had ever trailed by two goals at halftime in a European match on home turf. The start of the second half was then marked with a concerning injury to Carlos Baleba, who couldn’t continue after pulling up and clutching his hamstring.

The Red Devils were awarded a penalty in the 55th minute for a trip on Matheus Cunha in the Roma box. A VAR check confirmed the on-field call and Fernandes stepped up to try to get his team back into the game. But it was a disappointing effort—a rare miss from 12 yards—struck too close to third-choice Roma goalkeeper Devis Vásquez.

The Colombian shot-stopper, on his debut for the club and unaware he would even be playing until three hours before kick off in Manchester, got a strong hand on the ball. Roma captain Bryan Cristante finished the job by racing in, beating Fernandes to the rebound and clearing the danger.

But that is where the problem occurred. Cristante was penalized for encroachment and the referee ordered the penalty to be retaken. Fernandes made no mistake the second time. Vásquez changed his guess and dived the opposite way, but the kick was struck with more power and was aimed higher into the net. He wouldn’t have saved it, even had he stuck.

Roma Encroachment Correctly Penalized

No players other than the goalkeeper and the penalty taker can be in the penalty area before the kick happens. Someone other than those two inside the confines of the 18-yard box up until the ball is struck is deemed to be encroaching.

The act of encroachment is not always punishable depending on the circumstances. For example, if a defender encroaches and the penalty is scored, it does not matter and the goal stands. Equally, if an attacker encroaches but does not clearly impact the goalkeeper or play or challenge for the ball, a goal scored would still stand.

In this instance, Vásquez saved the penalty and Cristante, having marginally entered the penalty area before Fernandes touched the ball, encroached to gain an unfair advantage. The Roma midfielder challenged his United counterpart for the rebound and won that battle.

The official soccer rulebook, as set out by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), states that: “A teammate of the goalkeeper is penalized for encroachment only if the encroachment clearly impacted on the kicker; or the encroaching player plays the ball or challenges an opponent for the ball and this prevents the opponents from scoring, attempting to score or creating a goal-scoring opportunity.”

Momentum Shift Turns Defeat into Win

That proved to be a huge, correct call from the officials because of the impact it had on the match. There is every reason to think that had that penalty not been scored or resulted in a goal in that moment, Roma would have kept control of the match and eventually won.

Shortly after Fernandes scored at the second attempt, Bryan Mbeumo was agonizingly close to an equalizer when an attempted finish somehow hit both posts but stayed out of the net. It was clear then the momentum had massively shifted in United’s favor.

Cristante wound up clearing a Harry Maguire header from off the goal line, before that swell of United pressure saw Cunha make it 2–2 in the 83rd minute by capitalizing on a Roma mistake.

The Brazilian had only scored once in 15 career Champions League appearances prior to this match but went on to net a dramatic winner only three minutes later. He won the penalty, pulled his team level and then got them in front in a seismic individual second-half performance.

Remarkably, Cunha finished the match with a red card to his name. His overzealous celebrations upon scoring United’s third, removing his shirt and jumping into the stands with the fans, earned him a yellow card, which was followed by another for a mistimed tackle in stoppage time.