Eric Bailly had a small yet effective part to play in Manchester United’s win over City at Old Trafford.
The Ivorian was in self-deprecating mood after the 2-0 win. He played 18 minutes including injury time after coming on in the 77th minute.
Bailly joked that he changed the game in United’s favour, with a social media post after the match.
He did really well
Bailly may not have directly influenced United adding to the 1-0 lead and making the scoreline 2-0, but he certainly helped keep a clean sheet.
The time he came on was no moment for a rookie defender.
City were in the ascendancy when he came on, after Luke Shaw pulled up and needed to be taken off.
Shaw had played very well and if Bailly was not up the task, it would have been a very noticeable downgrade.
Instead Bailly put in another solid display, as he has in his three starts against Chelsea, Club Brugge, and Derby since returning from injury.
Bailly made four clearances during his spell on the pitch, just one fewer than Shaw did during the preceding 77 minutes.
This had a lot to do with the desperate way City began to pump the ball into the box, but Bailly still stood up to everything which was thrown at him.
He was effective and ensured the game did not turn against United. That’s a positive impact from a late substitute when his team is up against it.
Further selection dilemmas face Solskjaer, ahead of games against LASK and Tottenham over the next week. Bailly will likely start in one of them, the question is which match.
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