Journalist Laurie Whitwell has highlighted Bruno Fernandes' poor performance against AC Milan.

On Thursday evening, Manchester United booked their place in the Europa League quarter-finals with a 1-0 victory and a 2-1 aggregate triumph over the Italian side. 

Paul Pogba replaced Marcus Rashford in the 46th minute and it took just two minutes for the Frenchman to make an impact, as he converted the winner from close range. 

Although Pogba stole the show with his substitute appearance, Fernandes was on the receiving end of some criticism. 

On The Athletic's Manchester United discussion page, a fan said this, "Unpopular opinion alert: Bruno hasn't played well bar City away for about a month now."

Whitwell, a journalist from The Athletic, responded to this statement by saying the following. 

"He was poor tonight. Gave ball away 28 times." 

Fernandes, who is valued at £81m by Transfermarkt, recorded a pass accuracy rate of 77% on Thursday evening and was also dispossessed on two occasions (via WhoScored). 

GIVEMESPORT's Tom Kelly says... 

Without a doubt, Fernandes has had an incredible season at Old Trafford, as the Portuguese midfielder has recorded 35 goal involvements across 44 appearances this season. 

The 26-year-old also excelled during the month of February, as he provided nine goal contributions across eight games. 

However, there is evidence to suggest that his form in front of goal has dropped off in the past month. 

Throughout March, the former Sporting man has scored just once and provided a single assist. Still, despite not contributing to United's goal-scoring output, Fernandes has still provided a range of solid performances this month, so is largely still contributing. 

According to WhoScored, his average rating dipped below seven for the first time this month against AC Milan on Thursday night. 

Although Fernandes' productivity in front of goal has declined recently, he has certainly still proved that he's a valuable asset to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side.