Manchester United captain Harry Maguire polished off his international break with an all-dominant display for England on Thursday evening.
Deployed alongside John Stones at the heart of the Three Lions’ defence against Poland in a FIFA 2022 World Cup qualifier, the former Leicester City man turned in a hugely impressive performance as Gareth Southgate’s men secured a third consecutive victory.
According to WhoScored, the 28-year-old was the second highest rated player on the entire pitch, earning a score of 7.75. Only opening goalscorer Harry Kane was awarded a higher score of 7.79.
Specifically, Maguire was a hugely influential figure defensively by contributing two tackles, two interceptions and accumulating a further two clearances. Meanwhile, the former Leicester City man also won four aerial duels.
This defensive solidarity certainly kept the visitors at bay with starting attacking pairing Arkadiusz Milik and Krzysztof Piątek not able to generate any real goalscoring threat and only managing to contribute two shots between them throughout the game.
Maguire’s influence for the Three Lions did not just end by attempting to keep the ball out of his own net – he was also a hugely useful asset as the hosts attempted to build attacks of their own.
He had 97 touches of the ball, only Ben Chilwell having more in the entire Three Lions’ squad, whilst he completed 85 passes during the match, more than any other player.
Maguire also proved pivotal in the closing stages to score the all-important winning goal for England – showing fantastic instincts to latch onto John Stones’ knockdown before lashing home past Wojciech Szczęsny and into the back of the net for his third international goal.
With Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer praising Maguire’s “strong” performances and character throughout the season, he will certainly hope to see similar displays from his defender as the international break draws to a close and club football returns this weekend.
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