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Facundo Pellistri put in a lively yet mixed performance as Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw against Athletic Bilbao in what was their final pre-season match before the 2023/24 Premier League campaign.
During the early stages of the match, the Uruguayan winger showed his hunger up front, pairing up with Jadon Sancho to produce two rapid counter-attacks that Bilbao keeper Unai Simon was forced to save.
The 21-year-old showed electric speed, outpacing the Spanish side’s defence time and again.
Unfortunately, Pellistri was prevented from showing his full potential, with the Athletic defence choosing to foul him on three occasions rather than allow him to complete his dribbles against them.
As a result, the rising star was unable to complete either of his two registered attempted dribbles, however, fouls against the player did play a part in skewing this statistic.
Much like what happened in some of his previous pre-season outings, Pellistri struggled to produce an end product – one of his pitfalls.
He only managed to get one of his three shots on target, while also failing to take shots from advanced positions where he could have had he been more opportunistic.
Just as he showed eagerness on the attack, Pellistri played his part in providing coverage to his defenders when United lost possession.
He made two successful tackles – the most of any United player throughout the match – while winning six of his 12 duels.
With 85% passing accuracy, Pellistri has improved in this department, however, he will need to build some consistency given his 69% passing accuracy during his last outing against Borussia Dortmund.
Pellistri’s shining moment came in the last play of the game when he was able to grab a last-gasp winner to save United from defeat.
While Pellistri will need to fill in some of the cracks in his game, he remains one to watch this season following a promising showing throughout United’s pre-season campaign.
