Manchester United may have lost their Premier League opener 0-1 against Arsenal, but Ruben Amorim will be delighted with what he saw from his players on Sunday.
The Red Devils completely dominated the Gunners at Old Trafford, like no other team have managed in recent seasons, and it certainly bodes well for the rest of the campaign.
The hosts looked relentless, both with and without the ball, and looked much more fitter than their opposition.
The attacking trio of Matheus Cunha, Mason Mount, and Bryan Mbeumo looked a class apart, combining nicely, and once Benjamin Sesko is fully fit, the attack should look even more dangerous.
United were relentless What will have impressed the head coach the most would have been the aggressiveness shown by his defenders, who hardly allowed the visitors any time on the ball.
Matthijs de Ligt played a big part in that, completely nullifying Viktor Gyokeres’ threat. In fact, Amorim’s former protege looked rattled by the unrelenting pressure put on him by the Dutchman.
The Netherlands international completed six clearances, and blocked two shots, one of which was a fantastic last-ditch challenge on Bukayo Saka in the dying moments of the match.
The 26-year-old won eight duels, five of which were aerial duels, while he also completed two tackles.
Offensively, the ex-Ajax captain proved to be a threat, with his smart runs catching the Arsenal defence out at times. He completed 88% of his passes, with one of them being a key pass.
De Ligt enjoyed his best-ever outing He attempted one shot, which almost led to the equaliser, while completing a 100% of his attempted crosses. Five of his long balls also found their intended target (all stats via sofascore).
Matthijs de Ligt has often come under the scanner since his move from Bayern Munich, with critics pointing to his association with Erik ten Hag as the reason he was bought.
But slowly but surely, the centre-back seems to be coming into his own, and on Sunday, he enjoyed perhaps his best-ever outing in a United shirt.
This should do his confidence a world of good, and hopefully, the team can build on this display and win all three points next weekend against Fulham.
Feature image Michael Regan 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
