3 dribbles, 90% passing, six ground duels: red-hot United attacker had Fulham on toast in Old Trafford thriller

Manchester United rolled back the years with a thrilling 3-2 win at home to Fulham. The Red Devils held a commanding 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Casemiro and Matheus Cunha, but two late Fulham strikes left Old Trafford stunned. But minutes after Kevin’s screamer levelled the scores, substitute Benjamin Sesko fired a thunderbolt past Bernd Leno to secure the points with some classic late drama. Amad a handful The goalscorers will rightly get the plaudits, but operating on the right wing Amad was just too much for Fulham’s defence to handle. The diminutive Ivorian once again showed how good he is as a traditional winger and completed more dribbles than anyone else on the pitch. He got past his man three times from seven attempts, his three successful dribbles more than the rest of his team managed combined. Unsurprisingly he also topped the charts for ground duels won, coming out on top six times from 12 contested duels. End product Amad got fans off their seats early in the game, cutting in from the right to land a shot on target. He didn’t work the goalkeeper again but did have a further shot blocked. The 23-year-old was in fine form on the ball and recorded an impressive 90% pass accuracy as 36 of 40 passes found their intended target. No other United attacker came close to matching this success rate. One of his two attempted crosses found a United player, and he was pinpoint accurate with the single long ball he attempted. He also created one big chance. Amad’s time spent as a wing-back under Ruben Amorim instilled some good defensive instincts in him, and nobody in red made more than his two interceptions. He also chipped in with two tackles and one clearance. Imported from Manual Input PlayerAmad Goals0 Expected goals (xG)0.14 Assists0 Expected assists (xA)0.3 Big chances created1 Key passes1 Crosses (accurate)2 (1) Accurate passes36/40 (90%) Passes in opposition half (acc.)24/27 (89%) Passes in own half (acc.)12/13 (92%) Long balls (accurate)1/1 (100%) Total shots2 Expected goals on target (xGOT)0.56 Shots on target1 Shots blocked1 Touches63 Unsuccessful touches2 Dribbles (successful)7 (3) Was fouled1 Possession lost12 Total carrying distance224.9 m Carries23 Progressive carries6 Total progression138.4 m Progressive carrying distance110.3 m Longest progressive carry22.6 m Def. contributions5 Tackles (won)2 (0) Interceptions2 Clearances1 Blocked shots0 Recoveries5 Ground duels (won)12 (6) Dribbled past1 United returned to fourth place with today’s victory and closed the gap on third-placed Aston Villa to five points. Amad is certain to start in their next match, next weekend’s trip to Tottenham Hotspur. Stats taken from sofascore. Featured image Matt McNulty 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.