127 touches, 105 passes, 11 duels won: £25m United star was terrific vs Ipswich, Amorim will be delighted - opinion
Manchester United registered a 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town in the Premier League on Sunday.
Ruben Amorim made his managerial debut for the Red Devils. He had the perfect beginning, with Marcus Rashford scoring after just 80 seconds.
United were unable to double the early advantage and ultimately shared the spoils in the end.
Omari Hutchinson’s stellar strike from the edge of the box secured a point for Ipswich.
There were several good performances in the game, including Noussair Mazraoui, who was exceptional as a makeshift centre-back.
The Morocco international started on the right side of the back three, with Lisandro Martinez, Victor Lindelof, Leny Yoro and Harry Maguire unavailable for selection.
The versatile full-back showed his class with a superb showing. He managed 127 touches in the game with 105 passes – an accuracy of more than 91 percent.
The £25 million-rated star won a stunning 11 duels alongside six recoveries and two tackles.
Mazraoui has hardly put a foot wrong at the start of his United career and made an instant impression on the manager with his fantastic display.
Amorim was quick to acknowledge that Mazraoui is ‘so smart’ and ‘so important‘ and he could play again as a central defender under the Portuguese.
United’s failure to beat Ipswich has dropped them six points behind the Champions League places, and there is much work to be done to make up ground.
The Red Devils have tough league trips to Arsenal and Manchester City next month as well as a League Cup quarter-final tie at Tottenham Hotspur, who are finding form.
Amorim has work to do on the training pitch to improve the understanding between players in his 3-4-2-1 formation. There is not much time, with the fixtures coming thick and fast.
Stats from Sofascore.com & Transfermarkt.com.
Article written by Sri Aswin .