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Manchester United have been anticipated to buckle underneath stress when Arsenal equalised following Diogo Dalot’s sending-off. However as a substitute, they dug deep to take the sport to penalties and finally clinched a 5-3 win away on the Emirates.
Sunday’s well-known FA Cup win wouldn’t have been doable with out the backline performing exceedingly nicely, as they needed to maintain off the Gunners for over an hour with a person all the way down to take the sport to penalties.
Matthijs de Ligt needed to play out of his pores and skin to maintain the Gunners at bay, because the Dutchman made two beautiful interventions in additional time price speaking about.
The primary got here as Declan Rice was lining as much as shoot at Altay Bayindir‘s objective however the former Bayern Munich star slide in to make an important block.
De Ligt made a few beautiful defensive interceptions
And the second was much more spectacular as Kai Havertz’ move appeared destined to be completed off by Leandro Trossard who was operating in to satisfy the ball inches away from the goalline.
However De Ligt steamed in to clear away and the defender was pumped up with that defensive motion. The Netherlands worldwide made a complete of seven clearances throughout the 120 minutes.
Matthijs de Ligt’s sport by numbers vs. Arsenal:
100% floor duels gained
80% move accuracy
31 whole touches
7 clearances
0 x dribbled previous
0 foulsDe ligtful stuff. 🪨 pic.twitter.com/msZ8julqNP
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) January 12, 2025
The 25-year-old additionally made one interception and was not dribbled previous even as soon as throughout the sport. That was not all as the previous Ajax star gained all his floor duels.
De Ligt was courageous with the ball as nicely, having 31 touches whereas finishing 16 of his 20 passes with one profitable long-ball performed (all stats by way of sofascore).
The summer season signing has quietly turn into a key cog in Amorim’s machine since his tough begin to life in purple together with his current illness coinciding with the workforce occurring a three-match shedding run.
De Ligt has turn into a mainstay on the coronary heart of United’s defence
Since his return, the Purple Devils have produced a much more defensively-astute show, final weekend away towards Liverpool and now Arsenal.
From his signing being criticised as yet one more ex-Ajax star to now being virtually a everlasting fixture within the beginning line-up, De Ligt has definitely answered his critics.
He began on the right-side of the again three however ended within the center as Harry Maguire was compelled off with damage. Amorim will want the Dutchman much more, particularly if the England worldwide is sidelined attributable to damage.
The unimaginable win set-up a reunion with Ruud van Nistelrooy and his Leicester Metropolis within the FA Cup fourth spherical with the previous United interim boss eager to ship a message to each INEOS and Amorim for parting methods with him.
Function picture Alex Pantling by way of Getty Pictures
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