Scott McTominay.

McTominay scoops Man-of-the-Match award

Wednesday 10 April 2019 23:35

Scott McTominay is your Man of the Match following a mature display in Manchester United's Champions League quarter-final first leg against Barcelona at Old Trafford.

Walking out in a European tie against one of the best teams in world football and immediately having to get to grips with the likes of Lionel Messi is a tall order for anybody but McTominay was masterful in how he marshalled our midfield and kept Barcelona's threat to a minimum ahead of the second leg in six days time.

The midfielder - who was nominated alongside Fred, Victor Lindelof and Chris Smalling - took the accolade with 53 per cent of the vote and it's not difficult to see why after the amount of aerial duels and tackles won during a cagey first leg.

The imposing display continued the Scotland international's impressive run of personal form as he was also probably our top performer in the Premier League defeat at Wolves last week.

Scott McTominay challenges Lionel Messi.

Scott spoke to BT Sport after the game and was bullish about how United will approach the second leg at the Nou Camp and explained why he and his team-mates kept calm after an early goal from the five-time European champions.

"I thought that in the first 10-15 minutes we showed them far too much respect because of the way we'd set out to go and press and then, after that, we adapted really well and started to take control of the game and, obviously, we looked the better side," he said.

"We didn't get a goal while we were on top but it was probably an entertaining night to watch on the telly.

"It's Barcelona, they're a top-class team and you're going to struggle to get hold of the ball," he added. "They're going to have patches where they keep the ball and it's not as easy as going out and pressing them like mad to recover the ball. But I thought after that we did so so well and it's a credit to all the boys how they performed today.

"We're Manchester United, you can never write us off. They've got some top=class players as well, but so do we. We're going to showcase that in the second leg at the Nou Camp."

Scott McTominay says

"We're Manchester United, you can never write us off. They've got some top class players as well, but so do we but we're going to showcase that in the second leg at the Nou Camp."

The opinions of the fans were reciprocated by the boss, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who accredited McTominay as the key to helping the Reds settle into the game.

"A fantastic game for Scott," he said to BT Sport. "Every time he plays for us, he is improving, today on the ball as well.

"He's a great athlete, he can run all day long. He wins challenges, he's quick on his feet. He was composed and brought the ball down a few times.

"He started settling us, to be fair."

Reading this in our app? If not, you might miss some exclusive features not found on ManUtd.com. Download the Official App here.

Recommended: