Video: 1 goal, 3 key passes, 100% tackles won: United star shines bright for nation in AFCON win

Manchester United had two players in international action on Christmas Eve during the Africa Cup of Nations. Noussair Mazraoui had already started the tournament well for United’s African players with an assist for Morocco on the opening evening of the competition. Amad Amad played a key role in Ivory Coast’s 1-0 win over Mozambique. The United wing-back scored the only goal of the match just after half-time. The ball was headed down in the box, and the United man ran onto it and coolly slotted it into the bottom corner with his right foot. He played 81 minutes of the match and had three shots on goal. The winger completed one dribble and was successful with 91% of his passes. The 23-year-old was at his creative best, making three key passes and also put in a shift defensively. He won his only tackle attempt in the game and won four ground duels as his team started the tournament in the best way possible. Bryan Mbeumo The United attacker also played an integral role in his side’s opening victory in the Africa Cup of Nations. Cameroon came out on top in a 1-0 victory over Gabon in their opening group match. The summer signing from Brentford grabbed an assist when his pinpoint pass was latched onto by Etta Eyong after just six minutes, and Eyong finished the move off in style. He played the entire 90 minutes and also had one shot on target during the game. Mbeumo was incredibly influential in the match, making six key passes and creating three big chances in total. The United man will next play against Amad and the Ivory Coast, and in an interview after the game, he claimed that he was impatient to play the match and face off against his club teammate. Amad stats vs Mozambique StatValue Goals1 Assists0 Total shots3 Shots on target1 Shots blocked1 Touches67 Dribbles (successful)4 (1) Was fouled2 Possession lost13 Key passes3 Crosses (accurate)5 (0) Accurate passes41/45 (91%) Passes in opposition half (acc.)31/35 (89%) Passes in own half (acc.)10/10 (100%) Long balls (accurate)4/4 (100%) Defensive contributions1 Tackles (won)1 (1) Interceptions0 Clearances0 Blocked shots0 Recoveries2 Ground duels (won)9 (4) Featured image Stu Forster 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 Latest Top Stories… Alex Browne Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Alex has a Master’s degree from Queen’s University Belfast and La Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. Having lived in the country since 2011, Alex is The Peoples Person’s Spanish football expert and is fluent in both Spanish and Catalan. He dreams of witnessing a United captain triumphantly hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophy in the air once more.