4 dribbles, 4 key passes, 9 duels won: even electrifying star couldn’t salvage rotten United

Manchester United regressed to the bad old days with a 1-0 defeat at home to ten-man Everton. After Idriss Gueye was sent off for an altercation with a team mate it looked like United were perfectly placed to extend their unbeaten run, but instead flopped to a disheartening loss. Industrious Amad It was poor performance across the board, with the likes of Joshua Zirkzee failing to seize the initiative. But starting in a more attacking role Amad was his side’s brightest spark, even if his trickery ultimately came to nothing. The Ivorian started as one of the 10s instead of his more usual wing-back position and showed glimpses of the flair he exhibited when he burst onto the scene last season. Amad contested the most duels of any United player, going toe to toe with his man 16 times, and was successful on nine occasions. He also attempted and completed more dribbles than anyone else on the pitch, beating his man four times from an attempted five. United’s best hope Amad was also United’s best player creatively, playing four key passes – more than any other player on either side. He only found his man with one of five attempted crosses as the Red Devils pumped the ball into the box from all angles in search of an equaliser. His overall passing was respectable, completing 42 of 48 passes for an 88% success rate. No United player covered themselves in glory in front of goal, but Amad was as enterprising as anyone with two shots blocked and two off target. It was a desperately disappointing performance from the team overall, and while Amad worked hard it was for scant reward as things failed to click for United’s recently improved attack. Amad stats v Everton PlayerAmad Minutes played90′ Goals0 Expected goals (xG)0.14 Assists0 Expected assists (xA)0.13 Total shots5 Expected goals on target (xGOT)0.03 Shots on target1 Shots blocked2 Touches84 Unsuccessful touches5 Dribbles (successful)5 (4) Was fouled2 Possession lost20 Key passes4 Crosses (accurate)5 (1) Accurate passes42/48 (88%) Passes in opposition half (acc.)27/36 (75%) Passes in own half (acc.)11/12 (92%) Tackles (won)1 (0) Interceptions1 Clearances2 Blocked shots0 Recoveries4 Ground duels (won)13 (7) Aerial duels (won)3 (2) Fouls2 Dribbled past0 The Red Devils have a chance to bounce back on Sunday against Crystal Palace, but will look back on tonight as a huge opportunity missed to make real headway in the battle for European football. Stats taken from sofascore. Featured image Alex Livesey 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.