Rock-solid Ayden Heaven shines with imperious display in 3-2 Liverpool win – Man United News And Transfer News
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Manchester United defender Ayden Heaven delivered a colossal defensive performance to help his side to a 3-2 victory over bitter rivals Liverpool.
United beat Liverpool
Kobbie Mainoo bagged a brilliant winner for United to fire the club back into the Champions League after they came close to relinquishing a commanding two-goal lead.
United took the lead inside six minutes through the returning Matheus Cunha, who drove a strike past Freddie Woodman from the edge of the area.
Benjamin Sesko doubled United’s advantage a few moments later after Woodman diverted a Bruno Fernandes header onto his thigh, who was all too happy to bundle it home from close range.
Michael Carrick’s men looked like they were headed for a comfortable victory until nine minutes after the break, when substitute Amad recklessly turned over possession to Dominik Szoboszlai. The Hungarian midfielder raced up the pitch and struck a low strike into the bottom corner of United’s goal.
Things worsened for United after Senne Lammens casually passed the ball to a Liverpool player in an attempt to play out from the back. Cody Gakpo gleefully punished the mistake to make it 2-2.
But Mainoo had the last laugh, thundering a superb strike to win it for United, who have now completed the double over Liverpool for the first time this decade.
Heaven was one of the standout players for United in the triumph.
Heaven’s heroics
Since stepping in against Chelsea, Heaven has been flawless, and he continued that form against Liverpool.
The England international won one of the three tackles he made. He also contributed three clearances and four recoveries.
Heaven was a beast in his duels, emerging victorious in all five ground duels he contested as well as the one aerial challenge he faced.
He drew two fouls and completed six carries.
The 19-year-old successfully found a United teammate with 34 of the 39 passes he attempted (87% pass accuracy). Six of these were delivered into the final third.
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Tackles (won) | 3 (1) |
| Interceptions | 0 |
| Clearances | 3 |
| Recoveries | 4 |
| Ground duels (won) | 5 (5) |
| Aerial duels (won) | 1 (1) |
| Dribbled past | 0 |
| Touches | 50 |
| Dribbles (successful) | 0 (0) |
| Was fouled | 2 |
| Possession lost | 6 |
| Total carrying distance | 37 m |
| Carries | 6 |
| Total progression | 21.1 m |
| Accurate passes | 34/39 (87%) |
| Passes in opposition half (acc.) | 6/9 (67%) |
| Passes in own half (acc.) | 28/30 (93%) |
| Long balls (accurate) | 2/4 (50%) |
(Stats obtained from Sofascore)
With Lisandro Martinez set to be available for the Sunderland clash, it will be fascinating to see if Carrick keeps faith in Heaven. The teenager has certainly made himself very difficult to drop.
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