12 duels won, 5 recoveries, 4 tackles: £30m star was United’s best player vs Arsenal after Bruno – opinion | OneFootball

Manchester United shared the spoils against Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday.

The Gunners dominated proceedings in the opening half at Old Trafford but they could not find a way past the United defence.

Bruno Fernandes eventually broke the deadlock before the break with a sensational free-kick.

The Red Devils should have doubled the lead before the hour mark. Noussair Mazraoui was denied by a stellar save from David Raya.

Declan Rice eventually got the Gunners level with a fine strike from the edge of the box, but United will be disappointed with the result.

Rice and Gabriel Magalhaes made last-ditch tackles to deny Rasmus Hojlund. Right at the end, Raya made a stupendous double save.

Fernandes was adjudged the man of the match for his free-kick but midfielder Casemiro stepped up for the occasion against Arsenal.

With United playing a low block, Casemiro did not have much running to do and his focus was on his defensive attributes yesterday.

He did his job ‘really well‘ as manager Ruben Amorim said. The midfielder won 12 out of 16 duels contested with five recoveries.

The former Real Madrid man also won four out of nine tackles contested and lost possession on just three occasions over 90 minutes.

The Brazilian, reportedly valued at £30 million by the Red Devils, should have done better to mark Rice for the goal but overall, it was a solid performance.

United will require Casemiro to replicate the performance when they entertain Real Sociedad in the second leg of the Europa League last 16.

It won’t be straightforward for the club but a repeat of Sunday’s showing should see them progress to the last eight of the European competition.

Stats from Fotmob.com

Article written by Sri Aswin .