Forget Fernandes: No one’s talking about 7/10 Man United beast who pummelled Arsenal | OneFootball

Manchester United can walk away with their heads held relatively high after an improved showing against Arsenal.

Ruben Amorim’s men and Arsenal had to settle for a point apiece after Declan Rice cancelled out Bruno Fernandes’s sensational first-half free-kick.

The Portuguese international was in the mood to punish the visitors on Sunday afternoon, and indeed, he came close to securing the lion’s share of the spoils at the death.

David Raya was the man of the hour, however, with the Gunners ‘keeper just about managing to keep out the United skipper’s initial effort before then palming away the danger.

You could forgive the home support for wanting to award Fernandes the man of the match award for his display on the red half of Manchester. But might there also be a case for Casemiro?

What did the stats say about Casemiro?

(Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

It might seem a little against the grain to be so complimentary of the Brazilian after his and Matthijs de Ligt’s somewhat disappointing antics in the first half at Old Trafford.

However, the statistical evidence on offer from Sofascore would indicate that the 33-year-old’s latest outing in midfield went under the radar.

Casemiro, awarded a 7.3/10 rating on the statistics platform (a little ungenerous, if you ask us), won a whopping 12 duels (out of 16 contested on the ground and in the air). The Manchester United star also picked up:

→ 37 touches

→ 15/18 passes completed (83%)

→ 2 clearances

→ 2 blocked shots

→ Dribbled past once

Signs of promise ahead of a difficult summer call

In many ways, it was yet another performance where the former Real Madrid sensation turned back the clock with a bulldozing display in the middle of the park.

An applaudable extension of his fine outing in the Europa League where United also succumbed to a 1-1 draw against Real Sociedad.

However, at 33 years of age, and amidst some concern over his fading powers in midfield, it’s clear we can’t expect these kinds of performances week in, week out.

Given Casemiro’s allegedly earning as much as £350,000-a-week at United – the current ceiling of the wage list at the club – we’re not too sure we can justify that amount for a footballer who’s not currently one of the leading midfielders in world football.

With a year left on his current contract, of course, the big question is who would be prepared to take him off our hands to facilitate space on the wage bill.