Bruno Fernandes has been slammed and branded a “coward” after fans spotted what he did in Manchester United’s 4-3 Carabao Cup defeat to Spurs.

The Red Devils were expecting to move to the Carabao Cup semi-finals with a late derby victory against rivals Manchester City on Sunday, but they were down 3-0 after Dominic Solanke scored twice and Dejan Kulusevski added a goal.

Fraser Forster allowed Joshua Zirkzee and Amad Diallo two goals by attempting to play out of the back when pressured, but Heung-Min Son responded immediately from a corner kick to make it 4-2.

Jonny Evans scored a late consolation header in stoppage time as Ruben Amorim lost his third game as United boss.

Fernandes was shown a yellow card for protesting the decision to allow Son’s corner-kick goal when goalkeeper Altay Bayindir appealed for a foul from Lucas Bergvall after being caught out.

But he was also involved in an incident with the 18-year-old Swede, with the two engaging in a battle in midfield. After Bergvall left one on Fernandes, the United skipper knocked the youngster over in an off-the-ball incident.

Play continued and there was no punishment for Fernandes, who was controversially sent off in the league meeting. But while the incident wasn’t seen by many, footage was shared online and saw Fernandes panned for his antics.

One said: “Fernandes is a coward…kicked Bergvall.”

A second wrote: “Always been a dirty player Bruno.”

A third added: “This should be a suspension on Bruno.”

A fourth commented: “Beefing with an 18 years old, he’s only embarrassing himself after a stinker match as always.”

A fifth fumed: “Attacking an 18 year old from behind. What a coward @B_Fernandes8.”

Although United missed out on the chance to set up a semi-final showdown with Liverpool, Amorim was happy with elements of their performance, particularly the character they showed at 3-0 down.

“We showed that in the past games also when we were losing in difficult moments,” Amorim said in his press conference.

“We disconnect in the beginning of the second half, it was a tough moment for us, like 10 minutes. And then we return, I think we did a great job. I think if you look at all the game, I think we were the best team but they [Spurs] were more clinical. We lose the game but the fight from the lads was really important for me.”