Juan Mata was certainly one of Manchester United’s biggest stars today as the Red Devils beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 in the season opener. Mata didn’t score, but you can tell from his form today that he will have a season commensurate with how he was talking in the preseason.
Flashback to one of his best moments from last season.
When Manchester United visited Crystal Palace on May 9th, Juan Mata ended the Sahara Desert like scoring drought that the team was in. Mata converted a penalty kick off a handball foul, giving United it’s first goal in four games.
The result at Selhurst Park clinched a Champions League berth for the Red Devils.
That was one of 10 goals that Juan Mata scored for the team last year, and he’s confident that he’ll contribute double figure scoring again this season.
Here is putting the final touches on the Old Trafford rebranding in this really cool promo:
The best seats in the house! Juan Mata applies the final touches to The Theatre of Drea… (Vine by @adidasUK) https://t.co/EGfzGFZFGz
— SirAlexFergusonWay? (@siralexblog) August 7, 2015
Retweet to vote for Juan Mata as #mufc's Man of the Match v Tottenham. pic.twitter.com/5zbK2Gryhu
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 8, 2015
“I always try to score,” Juan Mata said while on the club’s preseason tour in the United States.
“I have always done that. I used to play as a striker when I was a kid and every team I played for I had a good goals record and it is the same at United, too. This season I will aim again to score a good number and to help the team with assists and goals. I had a 21-goal season at Chelsea [2012-13 including internationals with Spain] and 14 another year with Valencia [2009-10] so I have always been lucky enough to score a good number for a midfielder.”
“I always try to score more than 10 goals in a season. I have nearly always done that and I think that is a good number for a midfielder. Last season I tried to score as many as I could and it is always a big part of my game. I will try again to be in and around the box and score again.”
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is part of the FOX Sports Engage Network. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous talk radio stations all across the country.
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