Juan Mata is a joy to watch on evenings like these.
The Spaniard was the best player on the pitch as he assisted the first and scored the second in Manchester United’s Carabao Cup tie against Brighton.
United struggled over the line in the same fixture four days earlier, but had no such problems this evening and had Mata to thank for such a comfortable evening on the south coast.
Mata was left out of the matchday squad entirely for the dramatic Premier League fixture but reminded supporters of his class at the Amex, albeit against Graham Potter’s tired side.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men were slow in transition at times in the first-half but Mata was at the centre of everything positive in an attacking sense.
He created great openings with clever movement and was tidy in possession. The cross for Scott McTominay’s opener on the stroke of half-time was glorious.
Mata’s composed weak-footed finish to make it 2-0 was his 13th goal contribution in his last 15 starts for the Reds.
At 32-years-old, Mata still has his uses at United and should not be overlooked in Solskjaer’s matchday squads in the coming weeks.
See his almost flawless stats below, courtesy of UtdArena on twitter:
Juan Mata vs Brighton:
56 touches
42 passes completed (91.3% accuracy)
5 long passes completed
5 recoveries
4 chances created
— 2 big chances
3 ground duels won
1 goal
1 assistAbsolute class! pic.twitter.com/Gbs061fCXw
— UtdArena (@utdarena) September 30, 2020
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