8 duels won, 10 final third passes: Kobbie Mainoo rises above the wreckage in Man United’s dramatic Villa draw

Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo produced another encouraging display as he and his teammates played out a 4-4 draw with Aston Villa. Dramatic draw United endured another disastrous start, mirroring their midweek display against AS Roma. Michael Carrick and his players found themselves 2-0 down, on this occasion even more quickly, following goals from Alysson and Nicolas Jackson. Alysson and Jackson both capitalised on extremely poor defending to give the visitors a commanding two-goal lead inside four minutes. Senne Lammens left a lot to be desired both times. For Alysson’s strike, the Belgian allowed the ball to go through his legs. The goalkeeper then parried another Alysson effort directly into the six-yard box, where Jackson was positioned to tap home without mistake. Just like Roma, United came alive at two goals down as Bruno Fernandes netted another crucial penalty that was won by Matheus Cunha. It brought Old Trafford roaring back to life, and United continued to press, with Cunha and Amad testing Zion Suzuki. United eventually drew level in the 44th minute, with Youri Tielemans registering his first goal for the club. United were expected to burst out of the blocks after the break, but it was Villa who did so instead. Diogo Dalot’s reckless challenge on Alysson earned Villa a penalty, which John McGinn duly converted. United’s woes were compounded when Leon Goretzka punished Leny Yoro’s defensive mishap. United exhibited no sign of another comeback until Joshua Zirkzee converted Patrick Dorgu’s cross in stoppage time, which set up a grandstand finish. There was one final twist at the end when Dorgu headed in from a corner in the last minute of added time, rescuing a point. Nevertheless, the comeback does little to obscure the reality that United will enter the international break occupying 18th position. Several United players did not show up, but one who emerged with some credit is Mainoo. Mainoo’s performance Mainoo managed a 91% pass accuracy during the time he was on the pitch. A mind-boggling 21 of his passes were line-breaking passes. 10 of Mainoo’s passes were delivered into the final third. He recorded 83 touches of the ball and contributed 20 carries. Mainoo additionally registered 15 defensive contributions. The England international won eight of the 11 duels that he contested. Mainoo has represented a major positive for United all season and continued that form against Villa. For the time being, he will rest and aim to come back refreshed.