Best Players

Bruno Fernandes, Greenwood and the best performances from the weekend

The Portuguese star was once again in terrific form for the Red Devils, as was his young team-mate

 
2:40pm on Monday 6th July 2020
By
Martin Macdonald
Bruno Fernandes
AM, M (C) - Man Utd - 25 yrs
MAN OF THE MATCH
90'
9.6
Jul 4, 2020
90Minutes played
1Goals
2Assists
10Crosses
43Final third passes
7Touches in box
4Ball recovered
90Touches

The improvement in Manchester United since the recruitment of Bruno Fernandes has been sensational, and the Portugal international was once again their Man of the Match against Bournemouth, scoring one goal and assisting a further two.

After the Cherries took a surprise lead, he was instrumental in United bouncing back quickly, assisting the equalising goal for Mason Greenwood 29 minutes in with a slid pass to the left of the box while off balance.

Shortly after the break, he doubled his assist tally with another pass out to the left, this time for Anthony Martial.

Overall, he had 90 touches of the ball and sent 10 crosses into the area, with the latter stat bettered only by Manchester City's Oleksandr Zinchenko this weekend.

Fernandes would eventually record a deserved goal shortly before the hour mark with a cracking free-kick whipped into the left corner.

Lionel Messi
W (R), F (C) - Barcelona - 33 yrs
MAN OF THE MATCH
90'
9.4
Jul 5, 2020
90Minutes played
2Assists
4Total shots
4Crosses
41Final third passes
8Touches in box
2Dribbles
113Touches

Barcelona were back to their best on Sunday evening as they defeated Villarreal 4-1 away from home, with Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann, and Luis Suarez all on song.

Messi was once again the orchestrator for the Blaugrana and assisted two of the goals as well as having one himself disallowed after VAR deemed Arturo Vidal to be offside in the build up.

Both assists came in a first half, which saw Barca play some mesmerising attacking football. His first was for Suarez, as he went on a signature run through the middle before laying the ball into the path of the Uruguayan for a magnificent curled finish.

Then, any theories of a rift between him and Griezmann were silenced for a while as the pair embraced after a backheel from Messi set up the former Atletico man for an outrageous, chipped finish from the edge of the box.

He enjoyed 113 touches of the ball which was more than anyone in this round of La Liga fixtures.

Mário Rui
D (L) - Napoli - 29 yrs
MAN OF THE MATCH
90'
9.0
Jul 5, 2020
90Minutes played
1Assists
1Shots on target
7Crosses
22Final third passes
6Duels won
92Successfull passes %
117Touches

Napoli moved level on points with Roma after defeating the Giallorossi 2-1, with Mario Rui emerging as the best player on the pitch.

The left-back saw plenty of the ball down the left-hand side, touching it 117 times which was more than anyone in Serie A this weekend. He sent seven crosses into the area and completed an impressive 80/87 passes to team-mates.

Defensively, he won 6/9 duels, 100% of his attempted tackles, and 100% of his aerial duels.

It was via one of the aforementioned crosses which enabled him to assist the opener, as he curled a sensational delivery into the centre of the box for Jose Callejon to slide a finish beyond the keeper.

João Cancelo
D (R) - Man City - 26 yrs
MAN OF THE MATCH
90'
8.7
Jul 5, 2020
90Minutes played
1Total shots
6Crosses
4Tackles won
30Final third passes
11Duels won
11Ball recovered
93Successfull passes %

Man City may have suffered another loss against Southampton on Sunday, but Joao Cancelo certainly didn't deserve to be on a losing team as he was excellent at right-back and in advanced areas.

In a team full of pass masters, he had the second-highest amount of touches in the game behind Zinchenko and the second-highest in the league as a whole. It was the quality of his possession, too, though, as 30 of his 78 passes were sent into the final third.

He had to be vigilant of the Southampton counter, though, and was comfortable in his defensive duties, winning 11/17 duels and 4/7 tackles as well as making 11 ball recoveries, two interceptions, and three clearances.

Mason Greenwood
F (C), AM (R) - Man Utd - 18 yrs
75'
8.7
Jul 4, 2020
75Minutes played
2Goals
2Total shots
2Shots on target
12Final third passes
4Touches in box
21Passes completed
31Touches

Mason Greenwood's recent performances have been so excellent that it has some fans questioning whether the club even need to sign reported transfer target Jadon Sancho.

The young forward was again superb for United at the weekend, scoring two goals in the 5-2 win over Bournemouth.

After the visitors opened the scoring, he quickly equalised with a rifled left-footed strike into the top right corner with his left foot. Then he scored with his right foot this time from the right of the box, with both strikes well out of the reach of goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.

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