Juan Mata rolled back the years in Australia much to the delight of former Manchester United teammates Harry Maguire and Bruno Fernandes
Harry Maguire celebrates after Juan Mata free-kick.
Harry Maguire celebrates after Juan Mata free-kick.(Image: brunofernandes8/Instagram)
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes and Harry Maguire were overjoyed after Juan Mata's sensational free-kick in Australia.
The Portuguese showed his true colours in an Instagram message to the Spaniard as both he and Harry Maguire watched the former midfielder continue to perform heroics down under. United aren't in action this weekend due to the FA Cup fifth round taking precedent for the remaining top-flight teams in the division but both Maguire and Fernandes got to watch one of their former teammates in action.
The 37-year-old opened the scoring for Melbourne Victory in a 2-2 draw with rivals Sydney FC as they squandered a two-goal lead after two goals in five minutes from the hosts. Mata expertly curled his free-kick over the five-man wall in off the post and was mobbed by his teammates after breaking the deadlock.
The effort didn't surprise Maguire or Fernandes as the United captain posted on Instagram: "We just knew it that from there he doesn't miss, right @harrymaguire93?"
In the video, Maguire can be heard saying: "Over the wall?"
Fernandes said: "For sure, he has to," before adding: "Knew it," as Mata found the back of the net.
Bruno Fernandes and Harry Maguire watched on as Juan Mata netted a superb free-kick.
Bruno Fernandes and Harry Maguire watched on as Juan Mata netted a superb free-kick.
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The 31-year-old has been following Mata's journey down under with a close eye and hailed his former teammate last month. Despite moving to the other side of the world, the pair have kept in touch with Fernandes leaning on the Spaniard for advice prior to the win over Liverpool at Anfield, 10 years after Mata's Merseyside double.
He said: "Coming into training, I was speaking with Juan because he texted me, asking for a video for a friend.
"I said what I want from this weekend is to do what a real no.8 of this club has done at Anfield [laughs] and we were just talking about this.
“We know that this game, whoever scores in this kind of game, it has a huge impact on our fans and gets a huge love from them because this is a game that really matters for the fans. “We will be very eager to win the game, to score goals and to get many, many years of that game. Hopefully, we can score more than one and get people very excited about our players."
Mata's display against Melbourne City FC was celebrated by Fernandes after the Spanish attacker scored twice and provided an assist in a 3-1 win. The United captain lauded the left-footer as a "special player" following his double in February.
Saturday's effort continued a blistering run of form for the former Chelsea man as he has three goals and as many assists in his last four matches.
Mata's contribution against Sydney meant that he continued being a thorn in their side after contributing a hat-trick of assists during their 4-0 win in January.