"10/10 performance" , "Took Barcelona to Church" - Manchester United fans hail 29-year-old in 2-1 win over Barcelona

Manchester United midfielder Fred earned praise from fans following his brilliant performance in the side's 2-1 win over Barcelona. The Red Devils marched into the last 16 of the Europa League, winning 4-3 on aggregate.

Barca went ahead in the tie in the 18th minute courtesy of Robert Lewandowski's penalty. However, Erik ten Hag's men staged a memorable comeback victory in the second half.

Fred grabbed Manchester United's equalizer in the 47th minute with an assured finish on the edge of the box. The Brazilian's magnificent performance deserved the goal. He was everywhere, putting out fires, spreading the play, and a nuisance in attack.

Antony scored the Red Devils' vital winner in the 73rd minute with an accomplished strike that flew past Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Ten Hag's side advanced to the last 16 of the Europa League.

Fred's display was one to remember for the Brazilian midfielder, who has not always enjoyed a fond relationship with the Old Trafford faithful. This was perhaps his best performance in a United shirt and he capped it off with a goal.

Here's how Twitter reacted to Fred's impressive outing in Manchester United's victory over the Blaugrana:

Manchester United fans aim dig at Frenkie de Jong during Barcelona win

De Jong rejected the opportunity to join Manchester United last summer when Ten Hag was eager to be reunited with his former Ajax midfielder. Reports claimed that the two clubs agreed on an €85 million deal for the Dutchman.

However, De Jong stayed at the Nou Camp, insisting that Barcelona was his dream club. His goal of winning European trophies with the Catalan giants came to a screeching halt on Thursday night.

He was mocked by the Old Trafford faithful who were delighted to see their former target bow out of Europe following a lengthy summer saga. Manchester United fans sang:

His girlfriend Mikky Kiemeney had responded to a United fan before the two sides' Europa League playoff when asked when De Jong would be arriving at Old Trafford. She posted a picture of the upcoming fixtures between the European heavyweights. De Jong stepped out at the Theater of Dreams as a Barcelona player but endured a nightmare as his side slipped up yet again in Europe.

About the author

Matthew is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who has been covering news, rumors and match reports for close to 3 years. Learning creative writing from University of Essex, he combined his skills and passion for football take up writing for the sport professionally.

Matthew always strives to go beyond a story and offer unique and lesser-known insights, while maintaining an unbiased tone in his articles. His reporting exploits at the company have helped him gain a humungous readership of 25 million, with one of his articles raking in a whopping 724,000 reads.

A Manchester United fan since childhood, Matthew admired Sir Alex Ferguson for his loyalty and brave coaching style. His favorite footballer is Thierry Henry, believing the Frenchman to be uniquely talented and charismatic. An ardent Three Lions fan, England's penalty shootout win over Colombia in 2018 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment of all time, and he believes that Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe will have a Ballon d’Or duopoly after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

He also follows his local EFL League Two clubs AFC Wimbledon and Sutton United, and spends his free time watching and writing about professional wrestling. He also likes to work out, watch movies and go for night outs.

Know More