Manchester United were on the losing side against Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon, but the performance will please Ruben Amorim.
Ruben Amorim will have known this trip to Villa Park was going to be tricky, without Amad and Bryan Mbeumo, which effectively eliminated the right side.
However, Matheus Cunha stepped up with a goal, and Manchester United deserved more than defeat, with the performance showing plenty to be impressed with.
Who was the Man Utd man of the match in the defeat at Villa?
A positive performance despite the loss… who stood out for you?
United were arguably better than Villa, who scored only through Morgan Rogers’ brilliance on two occasions; otherwise, it would have been an easy win for the Red Devils.
There were plenty of positives for United to take from this game despite the result.
But who were United’s winners and losers against Villa?
Winners
Firstly, the winners.
Matheus Cunha: With Bryan Mbeumo off to AFCON, there was plenty of anticipation that Cunha would have to step up, and he did exactly that, scoring for the second game running.
It was a lethal finish to draw the teams level at the end of the first half, and we are finally beginning to see the quality of Cunha quantified by goal involvements.
Patrick Dorgu: Having been out of the starting XI for weeks, Dorgu returned against Aston Villa and got himself an assist.
While often frustrating in the final third, Dorgu’s defensive abilities are undeniable as he won lots of duels and locked down the Villa’s right side.
Ayden Heaven: The young defender made his fourth successive start and once again was the best of the backline, making some key interventions early on.
Heaven looks undroppable at the moment, even when Matthijs de Ligt returns.
Jack Fletcher: Amorim gave Fletcher over 20 minutes of action, trusting him in midfield as he became academy graduate 255.
HAS Ruben Amorim proved concerns over his academy usage wrong after debuting Jack Fletcher and Shea Lacey?🤔
These were his fourth and fifth academy debutants in 13 months…
Fletcher didn’t let Amorim down either, holding his own and being an immediate improvement on Manuel Ugarte in the midfield.
Shea Lacey: Like Fletcher, this will be a good day for Lacey as it saw his professional debut for United, and it proved Amorim’s trust in him as he was turned to while chasing a goal.
Lacey had one shot and completed one dribble in his brief cameo, but we expect his minutes will grow over the coming weeks.
Losers
And now for the losers.
Kobbie Mainoo: This weekend has made Mainoo a loser through no fault of his own and more due to his unfortunate injury, which came at a bad time as he would have started against Villa.
His prospects of playing a big role would only have increased during the match; hopefully, he is ready to play Newcastle on Friday.
Bruno Fernandes: For a long time, Fernandes was immortal for United, never getting injured, and even with a knock, he’d play, but against Villa, we might have seen the signs of him aging.
Fernandes was taken off at half-time with a hamstring issue, something that could easily keep him out until the new year.
Leny Yoro: For both goals conceded to Aston Villa, Yoro was the player at fault, allowing Rogers to cut inside too easily and score world-class goals against the run of play.
Yoro wasn’t at his best here.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/rKa2lXB