What Juan Mata Had To Say About Greenwood’s Performance vs Alkmaar

Manchester United were thoroughly impressive against AZ in their final group stage game in the Europa League. The Red Devils netted four goals and maintained a cleansheet at Old Trafford.

The most promising part of the encounter were the two goals from Mason Greenwood, the first time that the starlet has done so in his senior career. This takes his season’s tally to 6 goals scored, second only to Marcus Rashford’s 13 goals.

Much praise was heaped on the teenager following the result with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer making some incredible comparisons about the starlet’s goal-hungry style of play.

To add to those praises, Juan Mata had special words.

The Spaniard, who assisted both Ashley Young’s opener and Greenwood’s second goal, stated the following about the youth academy graduate: “Every time he plays, he scores. In training, he might not touch the ball a lot but he is a finisher and a killer in the box. He is a nice kid and I’m very happy for him.”

Mata himself was impeccable during the encounter, calmly converting a penalty which formed the crux of the side’s ten-minute goal-fest.

The midfielder’s main point of praise holds incredibly true as there is a clear-cut intent from Rashford to bury the ball into the back of the net every time he comes in contact with it. This hasn’t always been the case at Old Trafford, especially in recent years when the forwards have lacked the clinical presence and hunger for scoring.

Fans have always been eager to see him perform and excel especially after the kind of form he displayed at the academy level and for the club’s youth sides.

With the season only halfway through and United having already qualified to the knockout stages of the Europa League and still in two separate cup competitions, fans can get to see a lot more of Greenwood.