Manchester United’s Bryan Mbeumo and Noussair Mazraoui both featured in Friday night’s Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals. The Africa Cup of Nations has meant Manchester United have been without three players since mid-December.
Manchester United’s Bryan Mbeumo and Noussair Mazraoui both featured in Friday night’s Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals.
The Africa Cup of Nations has meant Manchester United have been without three players since mid-December.
Amad Diallo, Bryan Mbeumo, and Noussair Mazraoui have all been away with their national teams for AFCON. With the final scheduled for next Sunday, United fans will be glad to know the tournament is nearly over.
It’s still unclear if any of them will make it to the final, but Darren Fletcher – or whoever ends up leading the first team – will want his full squad back together sooner rather than later.
United are sitting seventh in the Premier League and have an FA Cup match against Brighton at Old Trafford coming up on Sunday. They’ll still be missing their AFCON trio for that third-round fixture.
Mbeumo and Cameroon crash out to Nigeria as Mazraoui advances with Morocco
Bryan Mbeumo was back in Cameroon’s starting lineup after missing the previous round due to injury. However, he couldn’t make a difference as his side lost 2-0 to Nigeria in Abidjan.
This result means Mbeumo’s AFCON campaign is over, allowing him to return to England and rejoin Manchester United ahead of their derby against Man City next weekend.
Mazraoui played the full 90 minutes as Morocco secured a 1-0 win over South Africa. The victory was sealed by Youssef En-Nesyri’s goal just before half-time.
AFCON Exit Sees Bryan Mbeumo Back Man City Return
Mbeumo’s time at AFCON has come to an end after Cameroon’s quarter-final exit.
Cameroon were knocked out in the last eight on Friday night following a 2-0 loss to hosts Morocco, who remain one of the favourites to lift the trophy.
The result means Mbeumo will return to United ahead of the Manchester derby, but Mazraoui will be taking part in the semi-final on Wednesday night.
After the game, Mbeumo spoke about his relationship with Mazraoui and wished him well for the remainder of the competition.
“Of course, I have a very good relationship with Nouss [Mazraoui],” Mbeumo said, as per Le360.
“I obviously wish him the very best. He had a very good match tonight.”
It wasn’t one of Mbeumo’s best performances but it is worth stressing that Morocco were the dominant side throughout the game and deserved their victory.
Mbeumo played all 90 minutes and created two chances, though Cameroon struggled to break through Morocco’s defence. Meanwhile, Mazraoui was solid at right back, completing five defensive contributions. Cameroon couldn’t get in behind him, making it a difficult night for Mbeumo.
When might Amad Diallo be back for Man Utd?
Amad is another name on United’s absentee list at the moment.
The Ivory Coast forward has three goals so far and will look to build on that total in Saturday’s quarter-final against Egypt.
If the Ivory Coast go out, Amad could be heading back to Manchester soon, joining Mbeumo in rejoining the squad. But if they reach next Sunday’s final, United will have a bit longer to wait before they get their winger back in action.
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Category: General Sports
