Bradford-born Mason Greenwood led the line for Manchester United against Yorkshire-based rivals Leeds United on Saturday, in a fixture that saw a demolition of The Whites at Old Trafford.
In the absence of Edinson Cavani, and the recent return of Anthony Martial from injury, Mason Greenwood was selected as Manchester United’s number nine in this opening day fixture, in which he stood out as a star performer on the pitch, despite world class performances from teammates Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba.
Whilst Greenwood has been utilised as a striker in the first team before, and his long-term development will likely see him become a centre-forward full time, the majority of his game time last season came on the right wing. In those fewer games at striker, Greenwood showed promise, however, it was obvious he wasn’t completely comfortable at the position at the top level of the game. He often drifted far wide, lacked the physical presence to be a focal point up top and struggled to comfortably get on the ball in the box.
However, one thing that no one can question with Mason Greenwood is his finishing ability. The boy is the definition of clinical. His goal against Leeds came from an exquisite Paul Pogba pass from the Manchester United half, which saw Mason burn Luke Ayling for pace to get on the end of it. Two touches later, Mason is at a seemingly impossible angle (0.08 XG) to score from, yet slots it to the far post perfectly, hitting it after the ball skidded along the ground past Meslier for United’s 2nd of the day.
Mason was unlucky not to get an assist or two, as well as another goal when he nearly chipped Meslier to open the scoring. Early in the game, he led a Manchester United counter-attack from the half way line, sitting the pressing Leeds player down with deft dribbling before passing it wide to an open Paul Pogba, who placed his effort wide of the post. He showed that he wasn’t only able to pose a threat scoring wise in the striker position, he displayed quality playmaking and chance creation as well.
Overall, Greenwood put on an attention-grabbing display, demonstrating his promise at the number nine position, and how he could be vying for Cavani’s position full-time very soon.