Tough-tackling Noussair Mazraoui was the pick of Manchester United’s defenders as they laboured to a 1-1 draw against Ipswich Town in Ruben Amorim’s first game in charge.
The Moroccan lined up on the right of a back three, accompanied by Matthijs de Ligt and Jonny Evans, and took to the role like a duck to water.
No player saw more of the ball, with the 27-year-old taking 127 touches – 41 more than anyone else on the pitch.
And he made the most of it, making a huge 114 passes with an impressive 91% success rate and supplying one key pass.
A lot of his passes were short and intricate, as United looked to build from the back, but he showed his versatility with 10 long balls, six of which found their man.
Amorim has spoken at length about his desire for intensity on the pitch, and Mazraoui seemed to be playing with that in mind.
His all-action display also saw him take on 16 duels, more than anyone else on the pitch, and he came out on top 11 times.
Mazraoui, who has played as a right-back for much of his time at United, may have expected to start at right wing-back.
That role was instead filled by Amad Diallo, who linked up well with the former Bayern Munich man.
Between them they caused real problems down Ipswich’s left side, attempting three and five dribbles respectively; each had two successes.
His attacking exploits saw him fouled twice but he gave as good as he got, making two fouls himself.
Amorim will be hoping to see more centre-backs returning to fitness, with Leny Yoro of particular interest, but Mazraoui gave an excellent showing to the new boss and has done enough to start there again.
All stats from sofascore.
Feature image Richard Pelham via Getty Images
Joe Ponting
Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried.
