Manchester United’s sluggish start to the season continued with an uninspiring 3-0 defeat to Manchester City.
The derby loss cranked up the pressure still further on head coach Ruben Amorim, who stuck doggedly to his 3-4-2-1 formation this afternoon.
Mazraoui back in the team
While his tactics have long been called into question, Amorim has also had to contend with injuries to key personnel.
Matheus Cunha and Mason Mount both missed today’s match, but Noussair Mazraoui was back in the starting lineup for the first time this season.
The Moroccan played 62 minutes at right wing-back, occupying the position usually held by Amad who was today deployed as a number 10.
Solid performance
Mazraoui turned in a quietly impressive performance, winning six of the 10 duels he contested, figures bettered only by Patrick Dorgu on the opposite flank.
He wasn’t a productive wing-back, with neither of his two crosses reaching their target, but he did beat his man with the single dribble he attempted.
The 27-year-old was solid in his more familiar defensive work, making three tackles and two clearances – nobody else in red made more.
Mazraoui didn’t see as much of the ball as he has in previous matches, taking 56 touches, but was accurate with his passing.
He found his man with 26 of his 30 attempted passes, an accuracy of 87%.
In a disappointing team performance, Mazraoui’s return was a small positive to take, and the reliable Moroccan is likely to feature in United’s next match.
Amorim will be relieved to see him back at match fitness ahead of Chelsea’s visit to Old Trafford on Saturday.
Stats taken from sofascore.
Featured image Carl Recine 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.
