Eric Bailly showed Manchester United exactly what they had been missing as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer handed the centre-back a chance to impress.
The Ivory Coast international has been little more than a spectator this campaign, with his only appearance which came in the Carabao Cup.
In the two main competitions, Bailly has found himself always behind Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Raphael Varane in the club’s pecking order.
Bailly only signed a new deal at the end of last campaign with the Red devils manager claiming he will “continue to play a significant part in the squad”.
But, Solskjaer appeared to be going back on that statement, particularly when the defender was left out after Maguire’s injury last month.
Maguire appeared to be rushed back into the starting XI to face his old club Leicester City, despite admitting he wasn’t fully fit. That had disastrous results with United shipping four, before being breached five times in the home thrashing by Liverpool.
According to a report in the Times, after the defeat to the Foxes, Bailly confronted Solskjaer about his lack of game time at the club.
Although, his intervention didn’t reap the immediate benefit as he sat out of the humiliation by Liverpool and the subsequent win over Tottenham.
But against Atalanta in the UEFA Champions League, in the absence of Lindelof, Bailly was afforded a chance – and didn’t miss out.
On a shaky night in Italy, which saw United come from behind two times to earn a point, the Ivorian was the best visiting defender on display. Bailly made several key blocks and for the most part handled Duvan Zapata well.
Solskjaer was pleased with his performance, believing he will take a lot of heart from his display. He said: “Eric did well, he’s not played for us for a little while, he’s played for his international team and he’s trained really well,” he said.
“As expected, Eric wanted to prove himself, wanted to show what he can do. He was important for us and he had a couple of blocks that only Eric can do. “He will take a lot of encouragement from this performance.”
The Manchester United dressing room agreed with the Norwegian manager after a host replied to his social media post in the wake of the draw.
Bailly said on social media: “It’s great to be back. Always hungry to be successful. Learn and go again. That’s what we do.”
And a huge number of United squad, including David de Gea, Scott McTominay, Jadon Sancho and Donny van de Beek all paid tribute to his outstanding display.
