We had to rub our eyes when we first saw Manchester United’s line-up for their Champions League clash against CSKA Moscow this evening.
Is that… is that Luke Shaw starting on the left?
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Crikey, it is!
The seldom-seen left-back hasn’t started for United in 219 days (we’ve been tallying them up, much like a prisoner).
But with Jose Mourinho’s side more-or-less guaranteed progression to the last 16 of the competition, the Special One decided to give his least favourite player in the whole world a bit of a run out in the final group game.
And you know what?
He’s not been half-bad.
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In the opening 45 minutes, the 22-year-old managed two shots – one of which required a smart save from Igor Akinfeev – and came agonisingly close to crossing for Marcus Rashford to tap home.
And what’s more, he was solid defensively – winning all of his aerial duels, along with two interceptions and three blocks (according to those clever folks over at WhoScored).
Not bad for a guy who’s spent a ridiculously long time sitting on the sidelines, eh?
As you’d expect, Twitter has been a mixture of surprised and pleased.
So, is this really the start of a decent run for Shaw?
It’d certainly be nice to see him get a good few games in United’s starting line-up, considering his career at Old Trafford has been fairly stop/start since his £30 million move from Southampton back in 2014.
But hey, don’t hold your breath just yet.