Fulham’s penalty shoot-out hero Bernd Leno has won the Club’s Man of the Match award from Sunday’s iconic victory at Old Trafford.
The headlines will rightly point to his two successes in the shoot-out, but our number one was imperious before that, too, most notably with a stunning reflex save to deny Chido Obi in extra-time.
With nothing to separate the sides after 120 minutes, we moved to penalties, with Leno’s stops from Victor Lindelof and Joshua Zirkzee – combined with four flawless Fulham kicks – booking our place in the Quarter-Finals.
“It was more instinct, just reading their runs a little bit, how he kicks the ball,” Leno said after the game. “For example, the one from Lindelof, I completely changed my mind.
“First I wanted to go to my left and, I don’t know, something in my mind said go to the right, and luckily it was the right decision.
“Sometimes penalties is a bit of a casino, and today we won the roulette.”
Those key moments saw Leno claim half (50.2%) of the Man of the Match ballot, receiving twice as many votes as our goal scorer Calvin Bassey (25.8%). The relentless Sander Berge came in third (18.6%).
