Manchester United centre-backs Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane were full of praise for their teammate Fred after scoring the opening goal against Tottenham Hotspur.
Fred’s name on the team sheet likely came as a surprise to many United fans as they faced top-four rivals Spurs at Old Trafford last night, but the Brazilian showed exactly why Erik ten Hag trusted him to perform for such a must-win match.
He made only his fourth league start of the season after falling out of favour after the opening two matches of the season, in which United conceded six goals across the 180 minutes.
He then came in against Newcastle United alongside his national team counterpart Casemiro, as Christian Eriksen had fallen ill and Scott McTomimay was serving a one-match suspension. Whilst the game finished goalless, United kept a clean sheet and Fred looked comfortable to be back in the team.
Fred’s game by numbers vs. Tottenham Hotspur:
76 touches
23 final third passes
4 ground duels won
3 key passes
3 long balls completed
2 interceptions
1 goalGave United the breakthrough. 💥 pic.twitter.com/I8SZ8h9zpY
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) October 19, 2022
Last night, the 29-year-old displayed one of his best performances in a United shirt and showed his work ethic throughout the full 90 minutes. Fred opened the scoring for the Reds early in the second half after a deflected shot finally beat Hugo Lloris, who was outstanding for Spurs.
Varane and Martinez on Fred’s performance:
Post-match, Martinez spoke to MUTV and touched on the midfielder’s goal, saying: “I’m really happy for Fred because he deserves it. He trains very hard. He deserves this moment.”
Regarding Fred being ‘everywhere’ on the pitch throughout the game, Varane laughed and responded: “He was running a lot, it was very helpful for the team and obviously he scored a goal so, a very positive performance.”
