'The only one who can make that tackle'
Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s amazing injury-time tackle to deny Wilfried Zaha an almost-certain Crystal Palace winner on Wednesday evening came as no surprise to the Eagles winger.
Michael Olise’s 90th-minute free-kick levelled the scores at 1-1 between Palace and United at Selhurst Park, after Bruno Fernandes had fired home in the first half.
That wasn’t the end of the drama in south London though, with the Reds twice coming close to regaining the lead during the four minutes of time added on by referee Robert Jones.
As the game raced towards its denouement, Zaha was played through by Eberechi Eze’s pass and the Ivorian forward found himself running towards United’s goal, seemingly with only David De Gea to beat.
Did this Wan-Bissaka tackle save a point?
Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s heroic late challenge on Wilfried Zaha prevented an almost-certain Palace winner…
A second Palace goal would have been a hammer blow for Erik ten Hag’s side at the culmination of a game we dominated for large parts, but, fortunately, Aaron brilliantly recovered from his foray forward, matching Zaha stride-for-stride before executing a perfectly timed challenge on his former team-mate.
It was one of the last meaningful kicks of the contest and, in speaking to Sky Sports after the game, it was clear that former Red Zaha had Aaron’s tackling ability in his head, having trained and played with him at Palace until 2019.
“Any other player [I would have got away from]. As I was running through, I had a little look back and thought, 'Oh my God, it’s Aaron',” said Zaha.
“He is the only one that can do that scoop tackle. Yes, it was a great tackle.”
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Wan-Bissaka was voted United fans' Man of the Match after the final whistle, crowning a fine few weeks for him personally after returning to the side in Diogo Dalot's absence.
While Aaron has always been renowned for his defensive reading of the game, and his timing in the challenge, he has also shown his ability in attacking areas, playing a key role in Saturday's Manchester derby win and Bruno Fernandes's equaliser especially.
He also provided an assist in the Carabao Cup win over Burnley last month, after which Erik ten Hag noted that goal involvements would come if he added an element of risk to his game:
“We all know about his defensive qualities and, for me, he just needs confidence to be pushed to go forward because, when he goes forward, he can create goalscoring opportunities for us,” said the boss.