Bruno Fernandes wasted no time at all to make his impact felt in the Manchester derby.

In the very week that the Manchester United general was criticised for his performances against the 'big six', he looked to have silenced his critics with a goal during the opening few minutes.

That's because the Red Devils really put a cat amongst the pigeons by winning a penalty within 30 seconds at the Etihad Stadium when Anthony Martial was lazily felled by Gabrial Jesus.

Man City 0-2 Man Utd

And give or take an anomalous miss at Newcastle United, Fernandes has a perfect record from 12 yards in England, so it came as no surprise that his spot-kick found the back of the net.

There might not have been the trademark hop motif before making contact, but his fizzing effort still had enough venom behind it to give United the lead despite Ederson getting a hand to it.

And from that point onwards, the Old Trafford club barely looked back and Luke Shaw's incredible solo goal after the break was enough to slam the brakes on Manchester City's winning streak.

Man Utd buzzing with derby win

So, it's no wonder that United's players, staff and fans were buzzing with the result, even if it's highly likely to prove futile in the Premier League title race.

Nevertheless, if you logged on to Twitter, closed your eyes and swung a stick, you could be certain that you'd hit a tweet singing the praises of United and Fernandes, in particular.

Besides, one such tweet came from the official United admin themselves as they sought to mock the claims that Fernandes flops against the 'big six' which dominated the pre-match conversation.

Man Utd mocked for tweet

Married to a photograph of Fernandes celebrating his opening goal at the Etihad Stadium, United spoke on their star man's behalf against those claiming: "Bruno doesn't do it in the big games."

However, as you can imagine, there were plenty of rival fans who thought that United's rebuttal was flawed and were keen to point out that Fernandes 'only' scored a penalty during the derby win.

Bearing that in mind, be sure to check out United's tweet down below as well as some of the most amusing responses from Manchester City fans and more:

This why 'Penandes' was trending during the game, ladies and gentlemen.

Fernandes answers the critics

Now, it goes without saying that the 'penalty merchant' jibes tend to be rather lazy, but we can't escape from the fact that Fernandes hasn't scored from open play against the 'big six' in 2020/21.

Nevertheless, even before a ball was kicked at the Etihad Stadium, Fernandes was keen to fire back against the critics, so it's only fair that we let the United man defend himself here.

According to the Manchester Evening News, he said to Sky Sports: "I don't know what people mean by 'top six', because the teams are in top six in the table.

"I score and assist against some of them. I score this season against Tottenham, but people say penalties don't count. So the game against Tottenham doesn’t finish 6-1 but 6-0.

"I know people expect Bruno to score or assist in every game because when I arrived, I was playing really well. And I want to do that - it's the most important thing.

“But as a player, I don't look for the big six or the rest of the league. I look for every game in the same way. And I think the league is not a sprint, it's a marathon. So you don't have to score or win against the big six - you have to score and win against everyone."

Fair play, Bruno, because let's face it, you're never going to please everyone playing for United...