Amad and Mazraoui combine for United history
Amad and Mazraoui combine for United history
Monday 26 August 2024 13:06
Amad’s second-half equaliser in Manchester United’s clash with Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday was a first for more reasons than one.
The 60th-minute strike, which found the net with the help of a deflection off the right knee of Seagulls defender Jan Paul van Hecke, saw the Ivorian open his account for the 2024/25 campaign with his maiden first-team goal away from Old Trafford.
There was also an originality about how the effort was created, via an incisive forward pass from Noussair Mazraoui, with the two players combining for a unique occurrence in our Premier League history, as highlighted by the stats gurus at Opta over the weekend.
1 – Noussair Mazraoui setting up Amad Diallo is the first time @ManUtd have scored a Premier League goal that was both scored and assisted by African players. Continental. #BHAMUN pic.twitter.com/o6fLAPUKnn
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 24, 2024
Interestingly, it was the first time that a United goal in the competition had been both scored and assisted by African players.
Recent signing Mazraoui was born in the Netherlands but plays for Morocco at international level, a nation he is eligible to represent through his father, and it was his through ball down the right channel that set Ivory Coast winger Amad away to score.
Despite the penetrating nature of the pass beyond the Brighton backline, there was still work for the latter to do but our no.16 superbly worked a shooting angle away from full-back Jack Hinshelwood and put enough power on his low strike to ensure van Hecke’s attempted block could only help the ball past a diving Jason Steele.
The goal may have been in vain on the day, with Joao Pedro’s 95th-minute winner for the home side proving decisive after former Red Danny Welbeck had earlier edged them in front, but the link-up was perhaps a sign of something to expect from our two players this season.
Mazraoui’s transfer to United from Bayern Munich earlier this month made him our men’s team’s 12th African player of all time, and with the possibility of him sharing the right flank with Amad more this term, it would be no surprise to see the pair combine for further goals over the course of 2024/25.
Amad’s effort at the Amex Stadium was his fourth in competitive matches for the club, having previously got on the scoresheet against AC Milan (2020/21), Liverpool and Newcastle United (both 2023/24).
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Monday 26 August 2024 13:06
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