Manchester United and Real Sociedad played out a 1-1 draw in the Europa League round of 16 first leg on Thursday night.
Ruben Amorim will feel his side are leaving Spain having thrown away a win against Real Sociedad.
It was a solid performance from Manchester United on a night when avoiding defeat was imperative. United drew 1-1 with Sociedad, however, Amorim will know his side could rue not being more clinical in front of goal.
Joshua Zirkzee was the goalscorer for United, which perfectly sums up his development as a player for Amorim with continued improvements over the past month or so.
Diogo Dalot left United frustrated as his poor decision-making prevented Rasmus Hojlund from getting a huge chance to break his now 19-game goalless streak.
For United, there were a handful of encouraging performances, with one proving Amorim correct over recent comments.
Photo by Cesar Ortiz/Soccrates/Getty Images
Photo by Cesar Ortiz/Soccrates/Getty Images
Casemiro rolls back the years with performance against Real Sociedad
Casemiro is in the midst of a difficult season with Premier League football proving a real struggle for him.
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The Brazilian therefore has been used sparingly by Amorim over the past few months. However, due to some injury concerns for Manuel Ugarte, Casemiro started against Sociedad.
Casemiro was up against a La Liga side, which he has plenty of experience with and therefore he looked very comfortable, pulling out his best display of the year.
Casemiro statistics for Manchester United vs Real Sociedad
Stat Vs. Sociedad
Minutes 90
Accurate passes 31/38 (82%)
Touches 62
Accurate long passes 5/8 (63%)
Tackles won 4/5 (80%
Blocks 2
Clearances 2
Interceptions 2
Defensive actions 11
Recoveries 5
Duels won 8
Casemiro won the most tackles in the game and played a key role in United’s strong performance which puts Amorim’s side in a good place ahead of next week’s second leg.
While Casemiro’s performance was positive, it reinforces a point Amorim made about Antony last week.
Casemiro proves Ruben Amorim right over Antony criticisms
The performance of Casemiro against La Liga opposition comes days after Amorim made claims regarding the league and its lack of physicality.
This came as Amorim explained why Antony failed at United, pointing out that he is shining due to the less physical tempo of games in Spain – in comparison to England.
“When you play against any team in England, the physicality is there. If you don’t have physicality, you will struggle a lot.
“Antony is so much better now in Spain. It’s [because of] a lot of factors but I guarantee you it’s physicality.”
Amorim’s claim went down poorly with Antony’s agent, as he admitted he completely disagreed with the United head coach.
However, after Thursday it was clear as day that Amorim was actually spot on in his verdict on Antony and why he’s doing so well in Spain.
Hopefully, a La Liga side were watching United on Thursday and think Casemiro is worth signing this summer.