Juan Mata is highly influential when he plays.
The Spaniard has been directly involved in 12 goals in his last 15 starts for Manchester United across all competitions.
12 – Juan Mata has been directly involved in 12 goals in his last 15 starts for Manchester United across all competitions (four goals and eight assists). Timeless.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 30, 2020
That equates to four goals and eight assists, according to @OptaJoe, describing the playmaker was “timeless”.
Mata assisted Scott McTominay for the opening goal in United’s Carabao Cup clash against Brighton at the Amex Stadium. The scoreline is currently 1-0 with the majority of the second half remaining.
United need to be taking advantage of having tall players like McTominay in and around the box. Like Phil Brown of Beyond the Pitch podcast tweeted tonight, he should be scoring 6-7 goals like this across all competitions every season.
Beautiful delivery, well worked free kick and great to see McTominay getting on the scoresheet. He's a big boy, he should be good for 6-7 goals a season with his head.
— Pilib De Brún (Phil Brown) (@Malachians) September 30, 2020
The World Cup-winner plays a bit-part role at United these days, but that doesn’t mean he’s not an asset to the club. Mata absolutely is!
It can’t really be argued that we’ve seen his best years at Old Trafford but Mata is definitely among the most positive signings of this post-Sir Alex Ferguson era.
He’s a model pro, too. The type of experienced player who will rub off on young players.
Brighton have played well tonight but haven’t posed much of a threat to United.
At the same time, we haven’t performed brilliantly and you never quite know what to expect (recalling the drama witnessed last weekend).
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