KAORU MITOMA had praise for FA Cup opponent Aaron Wan-Bissaka and admitted a “complete defeat” in their individual battle.
The Japanese international has been one of the surprise packages of the season for Brighton and he has frequently left defenders unable to deal with his pace and movement.
But Mitoma could hardly find a way around Wan-Bissaka as Manchester United and Brighton went all the way to penalties in the FA Cup semi-finals.
Solly March missed his sudden death spot-kick to send United through and Wan-Bissaka was lauded by fans for his performance.
Mitoma admitted he was impressed as well.
As quoted by One Football, the 25-year-old said: “I regret that I didn’t score a goal despite having a few chances to do so.
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“And it’s difficult to score penalties so I think I could have done something more before that.
“I also need to improve. [Wan-Bissaka] is a strong opponent … this is what I thought while I was playing. But there were a lot of [times] where his legs stretched at the end or he got the ball back.
“I think it was a complete defeat.”
Wan-Bissaka was also praised by Leicester and England star James Maddison.
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The midfielder tweeted: “AWB is ridiculously good at 1 v 1 defending. Probably the best in the world bar none. So many wingers run out of ideas when playing directly against him.”
Wan-Bissaka has only been drafted into team due to the Red Devils’ defensive injury crisis.
Diogo Dalot has been Erik ten Hag’s preferred right-back when everyone is fit.
Wan-Bissaka had initially struggled to get into United’s team in the first-half of the season but has had far more games this calendar year.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
