CASEMIRO and Joshua Zirkzee are stealing Bruno Fernandes’ thunder after his stunning free kick opened the scoring against Arsenal.
The pair have been credited with some clever positioning, blocking David Raya’s view of Fernandes‘ shot.
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The goal follows controversy surrounding where referee Anthony Taylor set the wall – 11.2 yards from where the kick was taken, rather than the ten yards that the rules stipulate.
This gave Fernandes more chance of getting his shot up and over the wall.
And Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp said: “I want to explain why I think this is so hard to stop.
First you have to give credit to the striker of the ball, then I want to look at Zirkzee and Casemiro.
“What they do really clever [is]…
“The keeper [Raya] has just got a nice gap and that’s exactly what you want because then you might be able to get a look at it as he’s struck it.
“But as he gets to the ball, just watch what Casemiro and Zirkzee do. They take Thomas Partey across.
“All of a sudden that gap is gone, so the next time that he’s [Raya] going to see the ball is just after it’s gone over the wall.
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“Now you have absolutely no chance by then, with that trajectory and that top spin that he’s [Fernandes] got on it, of getting anywhere near it.
“That’s why it’s quite smart from whoever has devised that free kick.”
The goal was a crucial one, coming at the end of a half where United had been on the back foot.
Arsenal made amends, though, clawing an equaliser back through Declan Rice in the second half.
The set piece marks Fernandes’ second free kick goal in his last three appearances.
And United employed similar antics for his goal at Everton two weeks ago, with Zirkzee and Harry Maguire positioning themselves very intentionally to block Jordan Pickford’s view.
The England number one was rooted to the spot as the shot hit the bottom right corner.
Before this run of goals, Fernandes had scored just one free kick in his previous 183 Premier League appearances.
Ruben Amorim may not have made much of an impact in the results column, but he does at least have set piece routines on song.