Bruno Fernandes’ record-breaking assist for Man United might not count after new video comes out.
Bruno Fernandes made Premier League history on Sunday by breaking the assist record, but some fans think his key assist on the last day shouldn’t count.
Fernandes, who won the Premier League Player of the Season award for 2025/26, matched Thierry Henry and Kevin De Bruyne’s record when he made his 20th assist for Bryan Mbeumo’s goal against Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford last week.
Manchester United finished the season strong with a 3-0 win at Brighton, with both Mbeumo and Fernandes scoring. Patrick Dorgu scored first with a header from a Fernandes corner, which seemed to be Fernandes’ record-breaking 21st assist.
The Premier League gave Fernandes a Golden Playmaker Award and celebrated his record with a special graphic on social media.
Fernandes told Sky Sports, “It’s great. I feel really happy and proud. I didn’t expect this until I got close to the record.”
But some fans noticed something when rewatching the game. Zoomed-in clips shared online suggest that Dorgu’s header hit the bar before bouncing off Brighton’s goalkeeper, Bart Verbruggen, and looked like an own goal.
If that’s true, Fernandes might not get the assist, and the record could be taken away. The Premier League hasn’t confirmed anything yet, so Fernandes must be hoping the original call stands.
Henry set the record back in 2002/03, and De Bruyne matched it in 2019/20. De Bruyne himself thinks the Premier League took an assist off him once during a game against Arsenal when his cross deflected off a defender.
Even though that assist was included in his 100 Premier League assists highlight video, De Bruyne later said on a podcast and in interviews that losing that assist didn’t make sense to him. He felt like he was “stolen” of two assists by the league over time.
In the end, De Bruyne said, “You get what they say,” but he still hopes his true contributions get recognized correctly.