CASEMIRO may have been dumbing down in the second tier of European competition.
After all, he arrived at Old Trafford having won the Champions League five times.
Chances are, given the heights the Brazilian has reached in his career, he hadn’t even heard of a team called Omonia Nicosia – or at least they have never been on his radar.
Yet as he displayed against Neil Lennon’s pesky side, nothing is beneath him when it comes to his job as a holding midfielder.
While those in front of him struggled to break down their Cypriot opponents, the 30-year-old showed exactly why boss Erik ten Hag persuaded Manchester United to pay £70million for his services.
There were those who said he flattered to deceive because he formed the defensive part of a triangle that was completed by Luka Modric and Toni Kroos.
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His doubters suggested that he lacked pace and could be caught on the turn.
That, in fact, he would be an accident waiting to happen within the greater intensity of the Premier League.
And so there would have been quite a few saying “told you so” when he got ambushed on the ball by Amadou Onoha before Alex Iwobi opened the scoring for Everton on Sunday night.
Yet he never put a foot wrong after that punishing early moment.
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Indeed he grew impressively into the game, showing that he is not only a destroyer but can be dangerous going forward, too.
He should have scored with a diving header then two minutes later caught Iwobi in possession.
His instant through-ball for Cristiano Ronaldo to bag the landmark 700th goal of his career – which turned out to be the winner in United’s 2-1 comeback triumph, was perfectly measured.
Against Omonia, when he did venture forward late in the first half, he accepted a pass from Marcus Rashford, took one step forward, and slammed a shot from 25 yards against the bar.
Soon after he could, and probably should, have scored with a header amidst a ruck of players.
But he was brought in to provide protection for the back four.
And against Omonia, like he also did after that initial mistake on what was his first Premier League start, he showed that he takes his job very seriously indeed.
His calculated caution is starting to bring stability to the central core of Ten Hag’s side.
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Here is a player who never goes into automatic, but who can go through the gears when he wants to.
And who is beginning to look like an automatic choice now that his settling-in period is over.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
