1 goal, 100% tackles won: United loanee finally comes up with the goods, guides side through in Europe

Manchester United had one player in loan action on Thursday night. To follow where all of Manchester United’s loanees are in action, click here. Jadon Sancho The Manchester United winger has had a poor time of it so far at Aston Villa. When he arrived in the summer, manager Unai Emery commented on how they could get the player back to something like his best. Nonetheless, this has not been the case, as the England winger has struggled badly for playing time, particularly in the starting line-up. Before last night’s match, he had zero goals and zero assists in 18 matches in all competitions, playing just 732 minutes all season. This has led to rumours that Sancho will not be staying permanently at Villa in the future, and there have already been reports of interest from a plethora of clubs in Turkey. Performance Nonetheless, the 25-year-old’s fortunes finally changed when he proved to be the match-winner in Turkey against Fenerbahce. Sancho scored his first goal of the season as high-flying Villa secured their place in the last sixteen of the Europa League with a game to spare. The ball was floated into the box after 25 minutes, and Sancho tucked away a rare headed goal to give the Villans the lead. The winger played 75 minutes and did not have any key passes or complete any of his crosses into the penalty area. He did have four shots on goal, though, with two shots on target and two being blocked by the defence. Two of his efforts on goal were classified as big chances missed, meaning he could easily have scored more as he finally showed his goalscoring threat. Interestingly, he also won 100% of his tackles and five duels, not usually parts of the game you would associate with the player. Villa travel to St James’ Park to take on Newcastle United in the Premier League on Sunday, and Sancho will hope that he gets the chance to play a big part in that key match as well. Jadon Sancho vs Fenerbahce StatisticValue Goals1 Expected goals (xG)1.06 Assists0 Expected assists (xA)0.38 Key passes0 Crosses (accurate)0 (0) Accurate passes13/24 (54%) Passes in opposition half (acc.)9/16 (56%) Passes in own half (acc.)4/8 (50%) Total shots4 Expected goals on target (xGOT)0.15 Shots on target2 Shots blocked2 Big chances missed2 Offsides1 Touches43 Unsuccessful touches1 Dribbles (successful)4 (2) Possession lost15 Defensive contributions4 Tackles (won)3 (3) Interceptions0 Clearances1 Blocked shots0 Recoveries5 Ground duels (won)9 (5) Aerial duels (won)1 (0) Dribbled past1 Featured image Eddie Keogh via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.