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da jogodeouro： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Off the Bench series, which places in-game managerial decisions and squad selections under FFC’s microscope.
Manchester United recorded a morale-boosting 1-0 win over Leicester City in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
There was huge pressure on the Red Devils after a tough start to the 2019-20 campaign, but Marcus Rashford’s early penalty secured all three points.
Snapshot
United entered Saturday’s clash with the Foxes having recorded just one win in their four league matches at the start of the season.
Rashford’s early penalty gave the home side the advantage, but it was not all plain sailing as Leicester put Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side under huge pressure.
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David de Gea had to make two big saves to keep out James Maddison and Ben Chilwell in the first half, with the hosts slightly fortunate to go into the interval with the lead.
It was also a difficult second half with Leicester enjoying plenty of the ball as they looked to level the scores at the Theatre of Dreams.
Solskjaer made a change in the 67th minute, though, introducing Fred for his first minutes of the campaign. And the Brazilian went on to play an important role for his team as the Red Devils came under pressure.
Off the bench
Fred’s contribution was telling.
The Brazil midfielder replaced Nemanja Matic, who had only boasted a 68% pass success rate during his time on the field.
Fred, however, ended with passing statistics of 86%, whilst he also made three clearances, one interception and one tackle during his 23 minutes on the field.
At the time, it appeared that the change had not altered too much. Fred helped United keep the ball during a period of the match where they needed it most, though, and his energy was also imperative as Matic’s legs had tired.
Solskjaer’s failure to use Fred this season has been a talking point, but the former Shakhtar Donetsk ace proved on Saturday that he can certainly play an important role, particularly with the team needing to improve their use of the ball in the middle.
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