In a team of heroes, one player in particular stood out in Manchester United’s historic 2-1 win in the Manchester Derby yesterday: right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
The young defender produced a commanding performance, preventing City star Raheem Sterling from taking a single shot on target over the 90 minutes and winning United’s official man-of-the-match award ahead of goalscorers and star names such as Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.
Wan-Bissaka, nicknamed ‘The Spider’ due to the length and range of his legs, won 100% of his tackles, made 7 clearances out of a possible 7, blocked 3 shots and 4 crosses and made 2 interceptions in a performance that has been hailed on social media as one of the best in the post Sir Alex Ferguson era.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s game by numbers vs. Man City:
100% successful take-ons
7 clearances
5 tackles won
4 blocked crosses
3 blocks
2 interceptions
1 foulSterling didn’t have a single shot on target. ???????????? pic.twitter.com/FiyMWkw7xv
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) December 7, 2019
The 22-year-old summer signing from Crystal Palace also won the Manchester Evening News and BBC’s man-of-the-match awards, provoking BBC’s Gary Lineker into tweeting “Goodness me Wan-Bissaka can defend”.
Goodness me Wan-Bissaka can defend. ????????????????????????
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) December 7, 2019
Wan-Bissaka himself took to Twitter last night with the simple comment: “Manchester is Red”.
MANCHESTER IS RED ???????? #AWB #MUFC pic.twitter.com/Uve9CKQiTC
— Aaron Wan-Bissaka (@awbissaka) December 7, 2019