9 duels won, 3 tackles, 3 dribbles: United talisman shone in his new role as changing of the guard continues

Manchester United made it three wins on the bounce thanks to a thrilling 4-2 win over Brighton and Hove Albion. United have long struggled against the Seagulls but went 3-0 up and looked comfortable at Old Trafford today. Brighton pulled two goals back to give Ruben Amorim serious cause for concern, but a last-minute Bryan Mbeumo strike secured the points, and a significant win for the Red Devils. Bruno’s milestone United captain Bruno Fernandes wasn’t able to mark his 300th appearance for the club with a goal or an assist but was still a key player for United. In many ways today’s win felt like a changing of the guard, as a goal from Matheus Cunha and a brace for Mbeumo showed that Amorim’s new number 10s mean business. Fernandes, operating from his now customary deeper role, still got four shots away – two on target, one off target and one blocked – but didn’t need to provide a goal to bail the Red Devils out. He made two key passes, as did Cunha and Mbeumo, and completed three of his five attempted dribbles – only Mbeumo beat his man more often. While it wasn’t recorded as an assist, Fernandes’ dummy for Mbeumo’s emphatic second was the key action which created the goal. Comfortable in new role In an indication of where the game was mostly played Fernandes was United’s most effective defender today, with eight defensive actions. Nobody on his side made more than his three tackles which he supplemented with two interceptions, two clearances and a blocked shot. As is so often the case, the 31-year-old was the heartbeat of his side when in possession. He took 82 touches, 22 more than anyone else in red, and completed 42 of his 49 attempted passes for an 86% completion rate. He was also the most combative in the duel, winning nine of the 16 ground duels he contested, at least two more than any of his team mates. He lost out in both contested aerial duels but was United’s most-fouled player, illegally brought down three times. Stats taken from sofascore. Featured image Shaun Botterill 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 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. He cut his teeth working in print media for local newspapers and entered football journalism covering the grassroots game for the Non-League Paper. Here he achieved a career high, interviewing United legend Sir Bobby Charlton to get his views on the lower echelons of the football pyramid. To kill time during international breaks Joe writes album reviews and has strong views on post punk for Plus One Magazine.