Manchester United managed a fantastic comeback against Aston Villa last night and Scott McTominay put in a fine performance in midfield.
The Scot was clearly the better of the ‘McFred’ partnership that started the game, showing composure where his Brazilian teammate often panicked.
And after Chrisian Eriksen came on after the hour mark, McTominay exploded into life, contributing greatly to his team’s fantastic fightback.
United managed to gain control of the midfield area in a way that just did not seem possible faced with the same opponents last Sunday.
Across the 90 minutes, McTominay played a fine game and the numbers back it up.
The academy product was the most involved of United’s starting central players, managing 66 touches compared to Fred’s 42 and Donny van de Beek’s paltry 21.
He managed an 88% passing accuracy to boot, with only Victor Lindelof and Tyrell Malacia bettering that ratio.
McTominay also completed a dribble and managed two accurate long balls forward, but it was defensively that he was a colossus.
He won an impressive six duels as United wrestled for control of the midfield and did a fantastic job in screening the defence.
Three successful tackles and five clearances demonstrated his willingness to muck in and help out his centre backs.
But far from a cautious sitting midfield showing, this was a true box-to-box performance, with McTominay bursting forward to get on the end of chances on a couple of occasions.
One resulted in hitting the woodwork, another a goal to kill the tie.
McTominay has enjoyed a good campaign this season and has performed admirably whenever called upon in his newfound role as a squad player.
With the signing of Casemiro lessening the pressure on McTominay to start every fixture he appears to have found a new lease of life under Erik ten Hag.
(All stats taken from SofaScore)
