United and Wolves ease to Portuguese inspired wins

January signing Bruno Fernandes inspired Manchester United to a comfortable 3-0 home win over Watford, while fellow Portuguese international Diogo Jota scored his fourth and fifth goals in a week as Wolves brushed aside Norwich.

Fernandes showed his continued impact on United’s improving attacking play, giving his side a first-half lead when both winning and scoring a penalty just before the break.

Watford, on a run of poor form, looked to have found an equaliser at the start of the second-half but were denied by VAR before Anthony Martial punished the Hornets soon after, doubling United’s lead with a lobbed effort.

And with 15 minutes to play, Fernandes was involved again, assisting Mason Greenwood’s rocket to finish off a rapid counter attack, securing three points that move United fifth, three shy of the top four, while Watford remain in the relegation zone.

...And the feeling is mutual, says @B_Fernandes8 👊

"The fans are amazing and they give me more confidence to play and to be happy."#MUFC #MUTVhttps://t.co/6MliMl3Yqf pic.twitter.com/GblmzHVy7e

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 23, 2020

Elsewhere in the other early Sunday kick-off, Fernandes’ fellow Portugal international, Diogo Jota, capped off a fine week with a brace in a 3-0 win over Norwich, adding to his hat-trick in the Europa League on Thursday

Jota opened the scoring in the 19th minute firing through Tim Krul’s legs, before bagging his fifth in four days on the half hour mark, tapping in Romain Saiss’ volleyed cross.

Jota nearly made it back-to-back hat-tricks when striking the post to start the second half, but Raul Jimenez put the game to bed, dispatching the rebound.

Wolves move into seventh in a packed battle for the European places, while Norwich continue propping up the table on 18 points, seven from safety.

3⃣European hat-tricks (2019/20; Europa League + Champions League):

2⚽️: ⭐️DIOGO JOTA⭐️
1⚽️: Haland, Orsic, Keseru, Gnabry, Mbappe, Sterling, Rodrygo, Munir, Lewandowski, Milik, Jesus, Kamada@WolvesPRT #Wolves pic.twitter.com/9mc4KAL4aH

— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) February 22, 2020