Manchester United followed up a shock FA Cup penalty-shootout defeat at the hands of Middlesbrough last weekend with a hugely disappointing Premier League draw away at Burnley on Tuesday night.
United started the game well and dominated for much of the first half, taking the lead through Paul Pogba and seeing two goals - one from Raphael Varane and a Ben Mee own goal -- disallowed for foul play.
However, the hosts found a route back into the game through Jay Rodriguez early in the second half and managed to keep United at bay for much of the second half, holding on for an eventual 1-1 draw.
Whilst United positives were few and far between at Turf Moor, the performance of Jadan Sancho did prove to at least be one of them.
The England international has made a slow start to life at Old Trafford following his £73million switch in the summer. He’s so far scored just three goals and has yet to register an assist.
Yet there have been signs in more recent weeks following the arrival of Ralf Rangnick that he’s starting to find his feet, perhaps benefiting from the more dominating and cohesive team tactics being deployed by the German coach.
Against Burnley, Sancho attempted six dribbles and made 19 progressive carries of the ball - no player on the pitch made more.
The 21-year-old also made the second-highest number of key passes (four), behind only Bruno Fernandes.
Although he hasn’t got the assist return to back it up, Sancho's influence on the side has been steadily building week by week. He’s starting to look more and more like the player who tore up the Bundesliga playing for Borussia Dortmund, and his underlying numbers point to a player who has perhaps been a little unlucky not to have more to show for his recent form.
In terms of shot-creating actions, these being one or two actions leading to a shot on goal, such as a pass or dribble, Sancho has registered 50 in the Premier League so far.
Out of United’s current squad, only Luke Shaw and Fernandes have accumulated more, although both have played substantially more minutes. Only those two players boast a higher accumulated Expected Assist (xA) total than Sancho too (1.8).
These numbers justify what we’ve been seeing on the pitch, this being improving performances and importance to the side.
It now feels as though it’ll be only a matter of time before the 21-year-old starts getting reflective attacking rewards and he could well be a key difference-maker for United between now and the end of the season as they push to secure a place inside the top four.
