Manchester United’s lifeless limp to the end of the Premier League season continued with a 1-0 defeat away to Chelsea.
It was a dismal last half hour but for parts of the game Ruben Amorim’s side did some good things, and one of the most positive men in red was left wing-back Patrick Dorgu.
The Dane certainly displayed his naivety and rawness at times, but balanced it out with an all-action performance which gave more than just glimpses of his potential.
Dorgu was a defensive monster, making six tackles – more than the other four defenders combined – and being dribbled past only once in his engaging battle with Pedro Neto.
He also contributed two clearances – matched only by Victor Lindelof – as he mucked in for what turned into damage limitation for United.
Marauding down the left flank, he managed to get three crosses into the box although none of them found a target, and he also provided one key pass.
In general he was solid if unremarkable with his passing, finding his man with 25 of his attempted 31 passes for a success rate of 81%.
He excelled in the duel, where his physicality won out more often than not in a battling performance which indicates that he has an exciting future.
No player on the pitch contested more duels than his 17, and he came out on top 11 times, again more than anyone else out there.
He did more than his fair share of work in the air too, winning four of his contested six aerial duels – also the highest of anyone on his team.
There is no doubt that Dorgu remains a work in progress, but if he can continue turning in plucky showings like this he has every chance of becoming a key part of Amorim’s side next season.
But before then, he is sure to feature in next week’s Europa League final clash with Tottenham Hotspur and he is one of the few United players whose performance today sets him up nicely for that crucial match in Bilbao.
All stats taken from sofascore.
Featured image Michael Regan via Getty Images
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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.
