Manchester United loanee Alvaro Fernandez had a stellar full debut for Preston North End on Tuesday, assisting twice in a 4-1 win against Huddersfield Town.
The left-back had a brilliant season in the United's Under-23s last term, winning the Player of the Year for the age group as he was named on the first-team's bench a number of times.
Erik ten Hag's signing of Tyrell Malacia made an entry into the first-team much harder for Fernandez.
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His best option seemed to be a loan move. He showed in 2021/22 that he was outgrowing youth football and needed a real challenge.
Preston North End came in and secured his services for this season and they have a real gem on their hands, as he shown in his first start for them.
Following cameos from the bench in the league against Wigan and Hull City, Fernandez shone in just 45 minutes against The Terriers in the Carabao Cup.
An early example of his ability in the final third came when a ball was sprayed to the left and he received on the edge of the box.
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After squaring up his man, Fernandez drove inside with the ball and laid it off for his teammate to drive a shot at goal.
The initial shot was well-saved, but the goalkeeper couldn't stop Troy Parrot from mopping up, scoring the rebound and giving Preston the opening goal of the game.
It wasn't long after when Fernandez got his first assist. On the 20 minute mark, again, the ball was played to the left, this time it was from just inside the opposition half.
Fernandez's starting position was what we should begin to expect from United's full-backs. He was high and wide, which gave him the opportunity to run at his man.
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Very direct and tricky, the Spaniard opened up half a yard in order to drill a low cross straight towards Alistair McCann's right foot. All the 23-year-old needed to do was guide the ball into the back of the net following the superb cross.
Meanwhile, 10 minutes later saw Fernandez's second set-up in a similar fashion, but this time the build-up involved some lovely passing and movement.
Fernandez received the ball from Patrick Bauer and played it back to the German. He then chipped the ball onto Ben Woodburn's head.
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The United loanee had not stopped off the ball, and instead, had started making a run in the half-space to receive the ball from the head of Woodburn.
His first touch was perfection, putting the ball into space, and his second was yet another brilliantly timed cutback to McCann, who scored his second of the game in a similar style to his first.
Ten Hag, who wants United to increase the amount of cutbacks they generate, would've been delighted with the performance from the United teenager.
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It was a brilliant display from the left-back, but he had to be withdrawn at half-time with an injury, but manager Ryan Lowe provided a positive update after the game.
"He’s fine, he rolled his ankle a little bit, it’s more precaution, we waited till half-time and assessed him, he’ll be absolutely fine," he clarified to Preston's official website.
“He might be a little bit stiff tomorrow but he’ll be okay Thursday, Friday," Lowe added. "I'm really pleased with his performance, along with everyone else’s to be honest with you, I thought they were fantastic.”
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Preston North End, EFL Championship, Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag
