Casemiro: Man Utd new boy suffers cheeky nutmeg on full debut v Sociedad

Casemiro made his full Manchester United debut in Thursday night’s Europa League clash with Real Sociedad and it’s fair to say he didn’t quite make the splash he would have been hoping for.

Thanks to the fine form of Scott McTominay in recent weeks, the Brazilian international has had to be content with cameo appearances from the bench since arriving at Old Trafford last month – probably not the role he had in mind when agreeing his £64m move from Real Madrid.

With the Red Devils heading into the Sociedad encounter on the back of four straight wins, United boss Erik ten Hag handed Casemiro his first start for the club.

However, on a sombre evening at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ following the sad news of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II in the build-up to the match, nothing clicked for the Red Devils.

Although United will feel aggrieved to have lost the contest 1-0 as a result of a controversial penalty fired home by Brais Mendez, their overall performance lacked any real fluency or cutting edge.

Casemiro was no exception to that statement, either. Per stats taken from Sofascore, the United new boy surrendered possession on no less than 13 occasions during the match. He also only managed to win 40% of his duels on the night.

For a midfielder renowned for his combative style of play, those numbers aren’t likely to see him replacing McTominay in the United starting XI any time soon.

The most embarrassing moment of Casemiro’s evening, though, came when he was mugged off by Sociedad left-back Aihen Munoz in the first-half.

With Casemiro attempting to assert his physical dominance and win possession, Munoz swiftly turned his back on the United midfielder as he approached, before cheekily dragging the ball between his legs.

Messi,