Berbatov names his Man of the Match v Newcastle

Monday 22 February 2021 10:58

Daniel James was voted Manchester United’s Man of the Match by only 60 votes on Sunday, in what was officially the closest poll result ever recorded in the Official App’s history.

The popular goal scorer was one of five players competing for the award and he won by the tiniest of margins, after recording 27 per cent of the votes alongside Bruno Fernandes. 

James was excellent against the Magpies and scored his second goal of the week, having already netted in the convincing Europa League victory over Real Sociedad.

Daniel was clearly a deserving winner of our award on Sunday, but in truth it could have gone to a handful of players and the poll result in our Official App highlighted how every single vote matters. Check out the results for the top five…

MAN OF THE MATCH OUTCOME

27 per cent = Daniel James
27 per cent = Bruno Fernandes
21 per cent = Marcus Rashford
12 per cent = Luke Shaw 
7 per cent = Nemanja Matic 
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A DIFFERENT OPINION

United legend Dimitar Berbatov watched the win over Newcastle and, after the final whistle, the uber-cool Bulgarian disagreed with the Man of the Match result. 

Using his official Instagram account – which is a good follow, by the way - the former striker posted an image of Nemanja Matic to his Story alongside the caption: “It’s not always about the goals. Well done… rock solid and MOTM for me today.”

DATA BACKS BERBA UP

As regular users of our Official App will know, the innovative Match Centre displays Opta data for each player and it is calculated into an ‘Influencer’ percentage (essentially a rating).

Matic came out on top with an impressive score of 93 per cent in recognition of his eye-catching performance in midfield, which included a brilliant turn and pass that led to James scoring our second goal, plus a clever assist for Rashford, to win the penalty.

Check out the Match Centre ‘Influencer’ scores…

93 per cent = Nemanja Matic
92 per cent = Marcus Rashford
91 per cent = Daniel James
88 per cent = Bruno Fernandes
86 per cent = Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw

Thanks to everyone who voted in our Man of the Match poll.

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