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Manchester United took control of their UEFA Champions League group on Tuesday with a new and an old face each in new places.
Anthony Martial played left winger while Donny van de Beek sat in midfield in a 4-1 loss to Istanbul Basaksehir at Old Trafford.
Usually in a more advanced role, Van de Beek recorded two key passes and completed 88% of his passes.
[ MORE: Recap + Three things we learned ]
Martial did his best job at the center forward, but played 82 minutes and completed his three dribbles on the left wing with Edinson Cavani in the lead.
“The two are getting used to the way we want them to play,” Solskjaer said via The Manchester Evening News. “Donny can play in different positions and Edinson is a good old school number nine and we haven’t had that in a while and I was happy with the way Anthony played on the left.
Van de Beek, 23, only played 90 minutes for the second time in his short United career, so the ex-Ajax star was probably just happy to have another chance to show off his skills.
He’s played 14 of his 175 senior games with Ajax in a defensive midfielder role, but he’s more often box-to-box or offensive.
“It was really good,” Van de Beek said after the victory. “Some games I play No 10, sometimes the coach needs me in the control position, that’s good for me, sometimes in Ajax, I also played in that position, so it’s okay.
We just want to see more of the young midfielder, even if that means another exit signal for Paul Pogba. Exciting United is good for the league, and a player with DVDB’s vision on the pitch is a good thing.
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