Fellow Premier League star James Maddison recognised Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s assured defensive display against Brighton and Hove Albion at Wembley on Sunday.
Rising Brighton star Kaoru Mitoma has been a revelation during his first season in English football, racking up 10 goals and seven assists for the Seagulls, including a stunning winner against Liverpool in the Emirates FA Cup fourth round.
But he was well-shackled by Wan-Bissaka during the semi-final and Maddison, who knows all about the struggles creative players can face when up against our no.29, singled out Aaron for his ability in one against ones.
In a Tweet posted during extra time at the national stadium, the Leicester playmaker struggles to think of another defender in world that is more accomplished in this area.
“AWB is ridiculously good at 1 v 1 defending,”
Maddison wrote.
“Probably the best in the world bar none. So many wingers run out of ideas when playing directly against him.”
The stats from United’s ultimately successful semi-final outing are there to back this up, with our no.29 winning out in all six ground duels he faced against Brighton – the only player from either team not to lose one.
Not content with just contributing defensively, the right-back also chipped in going forward for the Reds, racking up four successful dribbles and completing 82 per cent of his attempted passes.
ESPN and Squawka also highlighted that Wan-Bissaka is unmatched when it comes to tacklers in the continent's top leagues over the last few seasons.
Wan-Bissaka was not involved in our eventual penalty-shootout victory, having been substituted for Tyrell Malacia after 101 minutes.
But the former Crystal Palace man can be satisfied with a job well done, as he and United look forward to a third Wembley visit of the year already this coming June.