Manuel Ugarte proved he is not a one-trick pony in Man United’s 4-3 defeat at Brentford | OneFootball

A heavily-rotated Manchester United lost 4-3 to Brentford in a Premier League clash which promised much but delivered very little for manager Ruben Amorim.

Fresh off the back of Thursday’s emphatic 3-0 win over Athletic Club in the Europa League, the Portuguese rang the changes to rotate his squad and give key men like Bruno Fernandes a breather.

Manuel Ugarte was one of only three players to start against both Athletic Club on Thursday and Brentford today, and was one of United’s brightest sparks in a mostly lacklustre side.

The Uruguayan midfielder is often accused of being a one-dimensional hardman with limited ability on the ball, but he spent a lot of time on it today and was good value in possession.

Only Harry Amass took more touches than his 72, as he stepped up to dictate his side’s play in the absence of more established creative players.

Ugarte’s passing was as good as it has ever been at United – nobody on the pitch played more accurate passes than the 50 he made, and with only three passes going astray his accuracy was an impressive 94%.

He wasn’t always looking for the simple option, either, finding his man with all three of his attempted long balls and making one key pass as United looked for ways through the Brentford defence – often in vain.

Nobody in that defence or in United’s made more tackles than Ugarte’s four, and he also managed one interception and one block.

Unusually for him, however, he was dribbled past three times, the most of any United player this afternoon.

He got stuck in exactly as he always does, contesting 14 duels and winning seven of them, more than any of his team-mates. All of the duels he contested were on the ground, with no headers attempted.

In the absence of creative wizard Fernandes and resurgent midfield enforcer Casemiro, Ugarte shouldered a lot of responsibility and acquitted himself well at the Gtech Community Stadium.

Both players are sure to return for Thursday night’s Europa League semi-final second leg, and if Ugarte can reach similar levels then he will be an invaluable asset for United’s more blockbuster stars.

All stats taken from sofascore.

Featured image Alex Pantling via Getty Images

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