Sofyan Amrabat impresses fans on home debut for Manchester United — and the stats back it up

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Sofyan Amrabat home debut stats

Newest signing Sofyan Amrabat seriously impressed on his home debut for Manchester United and as well as winning over the Old Trafford faithful, he had the stats to back it up.

The Moroccan midfielder made a short cameo towards the end of Man United‘s 1-0 away win against Burnley over the weekend, being deployed as a makeshift left-back amid the club’s mounting injury woes, but it was Amrabat’s full home debut on Tuesday night that has got people talking.

Starting the game at fullback once again against Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup fixture, many were concerned they wouldn’t get to see the kind of performance that the 27-year-old was brought in for, however, after taking control early on in a comfortable 3-0 win he drifted into his more natural position.

In fact, much to the delight of the Stretford End and everyone else watching back home, he pretty much covered every position and blade of grass imaginable. If you don’t believe us, here’s his heat map after just an hour on the pitch.

A frankly ridiculous amount of graft.
The defensive midfielder had quite the passing range on him too — and he barely misplaced any in 60 minutes of football.
Admittedly, it was the kind of game they should expect to dominate in, but that hasn’t always been the case of late.

Writing on social media after the game, Amrabat said, “Fantastic feeling to play and win in the Theatre of DREAMS. Thank you for the support! Looking forward to Saturday”.

Chatting with MUTV after full-time, the dynamic CDM was also full of praise for his new teammate in the middle of the park, Casemiro — who also shone on the night with a goal and an assist — stating: “It’s clear that [he] is a fantastic player. He’s one of the best in his position so it’s nice to play next to him there.”

The Fiorentina loanee, whose contract also includes an option to buy for an estimated fee of £21.4m, also took the time to speak with Sky Sports after his impressive debut, telling the reporter that he had “worked for his moment since [he was] a child”.

He also took his utility role on the night in stride, assuring the fans that he’s happy to play anywhere the manager asks him to — even going so far as to say he’d do his best between the sticks if it came to it.

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Safe to say, we expect the new number four to be starting most of the upcoming fixtures, especially with Erik ten Hag‘s squad depleted in various different departments.

United take on Palace again in the Premier League this Saturday, 30 September, before playing their first home game of this year’s Champions League competition against Galatasaray on 3 October.

What did you make of Amrabats’s home debut, Reds?

You can watch the highlights of Manchester United vs Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup below:

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Featured Image — Sofyan Amrabat (via Instagram)/Sky Sports (via Twitter)