Carlos Baleba made his first Premier League start for Manchester United in the trip to Elland Road to face Leeds United (1-1). The Cameroonian midfielder played 74 minutes before being replaced because of cramp.
Carlos Baleba made his first Premier League start for Manchester United in the trip to Elland Road to face Leeds United (1-1), according to AfricaFoot. The 22-year-old Cameroonian midfielder was named in the starting line-up by Michael Carrick, the Manchester United head coach, alongside fellow midfielder Andrey Santos in the engine room.
The match ended in a draw. Bryan Mbeumo, a forward and another Cameroon international, scored United’s only goal in the 35th minute from a Youri Tielemans pass (source: Manchester United). Baleba played 74 minutes before being replaced with simple cramp, according to his coach (source: All Football).
25 passes completed out of 29 attempted
The Cameroonian completed 25 of 29 attempted passes, a success rate of 86%, according to AfricaFoot. He also tried a dangerous shot that skimmed Leeds United’s left-hand post (source: Highlights and Goals Leeds vs Manchester United).
Defensively, the Indomitable Lions midfielder made one tackle and committed two fouls during the match (source: AfricaFoot).
Carrick hails a “fresh spine”
In his press conference, Michael Carrick stressed that the duo formed by Baleba and Santos represented a very promising “fresh spine” for United’s midfield. He said in particular: “There was a freshness within the group […] you look at the midfield, it’s a pretty fresh spine through the heart of the team with two young players.” (source: Manchester Evening News).
This start follows his start against Atlético de Madrid in the Champions League on 13 October (source: AfricaFoot). It is his second consecutive start in all competitions for the Red Devils.
A team searching for wins
Manchester United are now on a sixth successive match without a win and sit 13th with 7 points from 7 matches (source: Carlos Baleba Impresses Again).
Baleba joined Manchester United from Brighton in August for a fee estimated at €75.9 million (source: LiveScore). His debut was reportedly delayed by an ankle injury picked up late last season at Brighton, according to an unofficial source (Reddit r/ManchesterUnited).
Manchester United face Como on matchday 3 of the Champions League league phase this week (source: AfricaFoot).