Casemiro kept his Manchester United promise against Chelsea

When Manchester United needed a leader to drag them over the line and back into the Champions League, of course it was Casemiro who stepped up.

The man who told United he would "fix" their problems after watching the 4-0 defeat to Brentford back in August has been as good as his word. Casemiro had been below par since his latest suspension but against Bournemouth and Chelsea he has risen to the occasion. When his team needed him, he was there.

The Brazilian swapped a career in the Champions League for a stint in the Europa League with United, but only for one season. He will add to his 83 Champions League appearances next season and there's no doubt he will begin the season by thinking he could end it with a sixth winner's medal.

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He is that kind of character. Erik ten Hag prioritised character and personality in his summer signings and he's got that with Casemiro. Plenty felt United were overpaying when spending £70million on a holding midfielder in his 30s this summer, but his influence is just as valuable as his performances.

He has become the setter of standards for Ten Hag and is a missing piece of the jigsaw in midfield. As Liverpool threatened to make United's ascent to the top four nervy, Casemiro has calmed them down. He's scored in successive games and done so in the first 10 minutes of both.

Those goals have come in league fixtures that have been decisive and he opened the scoring at Wembley in the Carabao Cup success against Newcastle. Big players define big games.

What he did in the first minute of this game arguably set the tone. United started on the front foot and when Chelsea briefly regained the ball Casemiro flew into a challenge