Manchester United fans wasted no time in reacting to Manuel Ugarte’s debut performance in the 3-0 win over Southampton at the St Mary’s on Saturday.
Erik ten Hag’s men had lost back-to-back Premier League matches before the start of the September international break.
However, Manchester United bounced back from the 2-1 defeat to Brighton and the 3-0 loss to Liverpool with a solid Premier League performance against Southampton.
Southampton came close to taking the lead in the first half before United shot-stopper Andre Onana superbly denied Cameron Archer from the spot-kick.
Matthijs de Ligt produced a commanding display at the St Mary’s and the former Ajax and Bayern Munich star fired United into the lead with a towering header.
Only six minutes after Matthijs de Ligt’s opener in Saturday’s 3-0 win, Marcus Rashford doubled United’s advantage against Southampton going into half-time.
Southampton offered little in response to United’s lead and were reduced to 10 men after Jack Stephens was sent off for his challenge on Alejandro Garnacho.
Alejandro Garnacho, who came off the bench and replaced Marcus Rashford in the second half, netted late into injury time to round off United’s 3-0 victory.
Ugarte vs Southampton on Man Utd debut
Manuel Ugarte was heavily linked with Manchester United in the summer window before the Red Devils finally landed the defensive midfielder on deadline day.
United agreed a deal worth £50m to bring Ugarte to Old Trafford from Paris Saint-Germain, with Erik ten Hag desperately requiring a holding midfielder for United.
The 23-year-old ex-PSG star was unveiled as a United player ahead of the defeat to Liverpool earlier this month before he flew out for international duty with Uruguay.
Ugarte featured for Uruguay during their World Cup qualifiers in the international break and Ten Hag confirmed he would be available for the Southampton match.
However, the Uruguay international had to settle for a place on the bench, with Christian Eriksen making a rare start in midfield alongside Kobbie Mainoo.
Christian Eriksen made way in the 73rd minute and Ugarte came on place for the Denmark international, with United’s summer signing impressing with his cameo.
Ugarte was able to secure first-team minutes for United for the first time since his signing in August, with the Uruguayan midfielder showing his quality on the ball.
Man Utd fans react to Ugarte vs Southampton
United fans on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, shared their immediate first impressions of former PSG midfielder Ugarte.
Red Devils supporters waxed lyrical about the energy that Ugarte brought to the midfield and the Uruguay midfielder’s ability to win back the ball for United.
One United fan was bold enough to draw a comparison between the former Sporting CP player and Arsenal star Declan Rice for how he maintained “pressure.”
One X user posted: “Ugarte with a quality 15-20 mins, looks like he’s going to be a quality player.”
“Ugarte [is] already preventing counters by winning the ball early. Love to see it,” another commented.
A third tweeted: “Ugarte is exactly what he needed. Boy can he win the ball back.”
Someone else commented: “Ugarte has been on for [around] 15 [minutes], I’m sure his ball recovery stats might be near the top. His anticipation and timing when winning the ball is really good.”
While a fifth said: “Nice stuff from Ugarte; he’s neatly pinched a couple [of] pockets since coming on.”
“Ugarte [is] looking like Declan Rice, winning the ball easily and maintaining pressure,” a sixth wrote.
Another argued: “Ugarte is my Man of the Match. We finally got a proper defensive midfielder.”
And an eighth added: “Liked what I saw of Ugarte. High energy, strength, the ability to read/break up plays and make simple passes. Looking forward to seeing more.”
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