Bruno Fernandes was sent off four minutes before half-time of Manchester United’s clash with Tottenham as the midfielder’s awful season continues.

Though he slipped, Fernandes kicked his leg up towards the knee of James Maddison, leaving the referee with no choice but to send him off. Former United captain Gary Neville delivered a withering verdict of Fernandes’ tackle as he slammed the Red Devils.

“It just sums up Manchester United in this first half, to be fair they’ve been an absolute disgrace. It’s one of the worst performances I’ve seen in Erik ten Hag’s time at Manchester United and that’s saying something,” he told Sky Sports.

“It’s been really bad. And he will not be able to believe what he’s watched. I’m not talking patterns of play, I’m talking application to a football match. And now, his captain sent off.

“When players react like that, it means something has gone on that we haven’t seen initially. He’s gone knee high Bruno Fernandes. I think he slips just before the tackle but he’s not going to get away with it.”

Fernandes became just the fourth United skipper to see red at Old Trafford in the Premier League, following Roy Keane in April 2001 (v Manchester City), Nemanja Vidic in March 2014 (v Liverpool) and Wayne Rooney in September 2014 (v West Ham).

The Portugal international had earlier seen his side fall behind just 2 minutes and 35 seconds into the game when Micky van de Ven burst forward from defence and set Brennan Johnson up for a tap in.