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Manchester United were back to their best on Sunday afternoon, thumping Everton 4-0 in an absolutely dominant performance.
In what was Ruben Amorim’s first home game in the Premier League as Man United manager, his team were all over the visitors, camping in their half with 60% possession and 11 shots on goal.
While it was an inspired team effort, Joshua Zirkzee proved to be the standout player of the match, producing an effective performance as a striker for arguably the first time this season.
Four minutes before the half-time break, with United already a goal up, it was Zirkzee who doubled the home side’s lead. Noticing that Amad Diallo had broken through Everton’s defensive lines, Zirkzee did well to surge forward and get on the end of Bruno Fernandes’ subsequent pass to score.
In the 64th minute, Zirkzee struck again. This time, he received a through ball from Amad, who managed to intercept the ball from Everton near the halfway line. The Dutch striker kept calm and composed to slot the ball coolly past Jordan Pickford for his second goal of the afternoon.
Overall, Zirkzee was absolutely clinical in front of goal, taking just two shots, both of which were on target. While he attempted one unsuccessful dribble, it was clear that he was focused on being an effective target man.
Still, just because Zirkzee was focused on proving his striker ability didn’t mean that he wasn’t looking to examine some midfield creativity as well.
Zirkzee took 45 touches throughout the match, proving to be far more involved in the build-up play than he typically would be.
He completed 27 of his 31 passes for an impressive 87% passing accuracy.
The striker failed to complete his only long ball; however, he more than made up for this with two key passes, either of which could have resulted in a goal.
The only area of play where Zirkzee’s performance was lacking was in physicality. He only won one of his eight ground duels, along with one of his three aerial battles.
Still, it was an impressive showing overall from a forward who previously struggled to get shots on target, let alone find the back of the net.
While this is the first truly standout performance from Zirkzee this season, it appears as if Amorim may have begun the process of boosting the striker’s confidence and unlocking his potential, meaning exciting times may lie ahead.
(Stats via Sofascore)
Featured image Alex Livesey via Getty Images
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