Manchester United produced a fighting display to grab a point from their Premier League game against Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday even though many had predicted an easy win for the North London side.
Ruben Amorim had said prior to the game that his team needed to survive but they did more than that in the second half and should have claimed all three points but for some brilliant goalkeeping from David Raya.
The head coach will also be pleased with the performance on his Premier League debut for the club by Ayden Heaven, who signed for the Red Devils from the Gunners in January.
Playing against his former club will not have been easy for the 18-year-old, especially when coming on for the reliable Leny Yoro in the second half.
Impressive cameo again
But he more than held his own as seen from the stats. The left-footed centre-back was not dribbled past once and completed a 100% of his tackles.
The former Arsenal man also made three clearances and club legend Rio Ferdinand was impressed with what he saw (all stats via sofascore).
Speaking Rio Ferdinand Presents’ YouTube channel, the former England star explained how Heaven showed pride in his display while also terming his decision to leave North London for Manchester as the right one.
Rio full of praise
“I saw a good attitude because I saw a man looking like, ‘I ain’t going to let Arsenal beat me today.’ There’s a pride, isn’t it because when you go to your old club, it’s quite an emotional thing and there’s a lot of pressure that comes with that.
“You’ve got to prove now why I’m here and I’ve left you lot and I’m playing first-team now, this is why. So, that’s a big pressure and I thought he handled it really well. I think the manager’s comments saying that he’s sometimes almost too comfortable but I really like it and really positive about him will be really great for his confidence.
“I think he’s been justified going to Man United at this point because he’s playing right now. Long term, I don’t know, long term, we don’t know.”
Whether Amorim now trusts him with a start, especially if Yoro and Harry Maguire fail to recover in time for Thursday’s all-important Europa League game, remains to be seen.
But as also seen from his impressive cameo against Fulham in the FA Cup, Heaven has shown he is ready to impact games for the 20-time English league champions.
Feature image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
