Buckets of praise continue to be showered in the direction of Romelu Lukaku, Marcus Rashford, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following last night’s stunning showing in Paris, deservedly so too. After all, boss Solskjaer has been an absolute revelation, in-form Lukaku bagged yet another brace, and the nerveless Rashford netted the winner from the spot.
However, it was the performance of another Manchester United player which was arguably the most pleasing for everyone associated with the club, considering his mixed start to life as a Red Devil.
Fred was by far the most high-profile of Jose Mourinho’s three summer signings - a £52 million purchase from Shakhtar Donetsk - but like the rest of his teammates he flunked in the opening half of the season. Given his hefty price-tag - the club’s third most expensive player ever - the Brazilian came in for severe criticism from all angles.
Last night the 26-year-old made only his fourth start under interim boss Solskjaer, employed in the middle of the park alongside Scott McTominay and Andreas Pereira, and it’s fair to say he absolutely smashed it.
It was undoubtedly the player’s most impressive performance in a Man Utd shirt, an opinion echoed by his manager.
"That was probably Fred's breakthrough for us," said Solskjaer after the game - quotes via the Manchester Evening News.
"You can see why we signed him. He's got the mentality of a Brazilian international, he is a Brazilian international, he gets on the ball, no fear, no doubt whatsoever. And we played a system today he used to play at Shakhtar and that's why we signed him."
Fred has also been widely praised for the way he handled PSG’s Leonardo Paredes who attempted to rattle Rashford as he stepped up to take the penalty. Fred, however, was having none of it, shoving the player away, allowing Rashford to stay focus and in turn power home the decisive goal.
Fred coming to push the PSG players away so that Rashford has a clean mind before the penalty shows what it means to him - said Twitter user @LWOSShiven.
Reminder: Fred reacted like a true United player when Paredes tried to distract and intimidate Rashford before take his penalty! Absolute gonna respect that!👊🏻 (@ManUnitedZone_)
Reports and fans alike have since marvelled at Fred’s overall showing.
Amid the euphoria of @ManUtd victory, Fred's performance should not be forgotten. Has been derided by many, many people but by far his best effort for the club last night. Broke down attacks, linked play in understated way. Excellent effort. (@sistoney67)
Best performance so far in a United shirt. Well done Fred. Thought the whole of the midfield 3 did brilliant. Not one of them looked out of place against a midfield as strong as PSG's. (@PWhitby73)
Fred put in absolute world class performance. He’s a baller (@mufcsznV2)
Fans will now hope Fred can continue to thrive in the absence of the injured Nemanja Matic and Ander Hererra, and if he continues to do so, the duo will have a tough task in breaking back into Solskjaer's starting line-up.
