In just his third start of the season, Ugarte displayed some of the qualities United signed him for this summer.
He had a couple of iffy moments in the game’s opening period but settled in well. Ugarte won the ball from Fred to feed Eriksen, who quickly found Zirkzee. Four passes later, Zirkzee had laid the ball back for Eriksen at the edge of the box to score with a sweet finish into the top corner.
Ugarte’s best moment of the game came a few minutes later though. Szymanski’s cross from the left was palmed by Onana straight to Tadic, but Ugarte raced back and dove in to block Tadic’s effort with his foot, much to the delight of his teammates.
Even after Fenerbahce’s goal, Ugarte remained one of United’s better defensive players. It wasn’t a perfect performance, however, as he gave away possession five times and committed four fouls, but this was a step in the right direction.
See the defensive midfielder’s match laid out in our graphic above.
