This Shaw statistic is absolutely incredible

Monday 21 November 2022 15:17

Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw continued his influential form in major international tournaments on Monday afternoon as England beat Iran 6-2 at the World Cup.

As expected, the Reds defender was named in Gareth Southgate’s starting XI for the Three Lions’ group-stage opener in Qatar and it didn’t take him long to make a positive impact on proceedings.

With 34 minutes on the clock, Shaw received the ball out on the left wing and played a perfect first-time cross into the penalty area for Jude Bellingham to head home with aplomb. 

 

Significantly, as highlighted by data expert @StatmanDave on Twitter, Shaw has now registered five goal involvements from his last five England appearances in major tournaments.

Luke’s magnificent run can be traced back to Euro 2020 and the last-16 match against Germany when he tallied an assist for Raheem Sterling.

Shaw set up two goals for Harry Maguire and Harry Kane in the quarter-final victory over Ukraine, before memorably scoring in the final against Italy.

United’s no.23 made it five goal contributions from his last five tournament appearances during the win over Iran, influencing what was an excellent start to the World Cup by England.

The stat that is illustrated below does not include the UEFA Nations League, in which Shaw also scored against Germany last September in one of two appearances that month.

 

After Shaw set up Bellingham, England doubled the lead when United's Harry Maguire did well to head the ball down for Bukayo Saka to finish in style. 

A third goal was scored just before the break when Sterling met Kane’s cross. Saka then scored his second and the team’s fourth during the second half.

United’s top scorer this season, Marcus Rashford, made it 5-1 with an impressive finish shortly after entering the action, before Jack Grealish made it 6-1 late on.

England's attention has now turned to Friday evening's second group-stage match against USA, when Shaw will hope to register yet another goal involvement.

 

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