Paul Pogba was at his brilliant best during Manchester United’s famous 6-2 victory over AS Roma on Thursday night.
Aside from giving away a penalty in the first half, which was an incredibly harsh handball call, the Frenchman was exceptional in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final.
Pogba played a key role in Bruno Fernandes’ opening goal, the Frenchman dribbling past a number of Roma players before finding Edinson Cavani on the edge of the box.
In the second half, Pogba was virtually unplayable and it was his towering header from a Fernandes cross that made it 5-2 on the night.
It really was a masterclass from the World Cup winner and what makes the performance even more special is the fact that he was fasting for Ramadan throughout the game.
1️⃣ Creating for Bruno Fernandes
2️⃣ Creating for Edinson Cavani
3️⃣ Scoring Man Utd's fifth goalPaul Pogba was at his best against Roma last night 👏#UEL pic.twitter.com/IWaic5NtyP
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) April 30, 2021
Pogba’s highlights vs Roma
Devout Muslims in the United Kingdom cannot consume food or drink during daylight hours in the holy month, which runs from April 12th to May 12th.
Despite half of the game being played at night, BT Sport presenter Reshmin Chowdhury has revealed that Pogba still didn’t break his fast until full-time.
“Paul Pogba was fasting for Ramadan last night,” Chowdhury wrote on Twitter. “At FT, he quickly ate, then reappeared for media interviews, sipping an energy drink. All this with a massive smile. I asked how he manages fasting and playing. He looked up, pointed and said ‘Allah helps us!'”
Paul Pogba was fasting for Ramadan last night. At FT, he quickly ate, then reappeared for media interviews, sipping an energy drink. All this with a massive smile. I asked how he manages fasting and playing. He looked up, pointed and said “Allah helps us!” 👏😁@ManUtd @paulpogba
— Reshmin Chowdhury (@ReshminTV) April 30, 2021
United legend Rio Ferdinand wrote in response to the presenter’s tweet: “Love this.”
After the game on Thursday evening, Pogba was quick to remind the public that the tie against Roma was far from finished, before touching on United’s half-time team talk when they were 2-1 down.
“The result is positive but it’s not finished,” the Frenchman said, per Mirror. “There is one more leg to go through. We’re going to have to stay focused and play with the same mentality.”
“In the first half we made two mistakes and conceded two goals. We were a bit all over the place after the second goal. At half-time we said let’s do the right things, let’s do simple things. The manager spoke. We were all motivated to score as many goals as possible.”
While Pogba remained humble in his post-match interview, there’s no denying that United are in a very good place right now.
If they can finally tie the mercurial midfielder down to a new contract, next season could be a very exciting one for the Red Devils.
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