25 April 2023 , 12:00
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Kaoru Mitoma has agreed with James Maddison’s assessment of Aaron Wan-Bissaka after suffering a “complete defeat” against the Manchester United defender.
The two faced off on Sunday during the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday afternoon as they battled for a place to take on Manchester City win the final in June. The Red Devils ran out winners in the capital as Seagulls star Solly March missed the decisive penalty.
Japanese international Mitoma was expected to be a huge threat to United throughout the afternoon after being a standout performer for Brighton this season. He headed into the game with ten goals and seven assists in all competitions for the Seagulls.
However, The 25-year-old struggled to have an impact after being expertly shut down by United defender Wan-Bissaka. Speaking after the penalty shootout defeat, he admitted that he found it tough against his opposite number.
As quoted by OneFootball, he said: “I regret that I didn’t score a goal despite having a few chances to do so. And it’s difficult to score penalties so I think I could have done something more before that.
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“I haven’t played against [Manchester United] but all of their players are of high individual quality, so we had to be careful on the counter-attacks. But I think the match as a whole went well, but they had the qualities at the end. I also need to improve.
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“[Wan-Bissaka] is a strong opponent, that is what I thought while I was playing. But there were a lot of scenes where his legs stretched at the end, or he got the ball down at the back. I think it was a complete defeat.”
Mitoma was not the only one to have hailed Wan-Bissaka for his performance at Wembley. Leicester star Maddison took to social media to praise him and made a bold call regarding his display against the Brighton man.
The England midfielder tweeted: “He is ridiculously good at one-v-one defending. Probably the best in the world bar none. So many wingers run out of ideas when playing directly against him.”
That was an assessment that Red Devils’ icon Rio Ferdinand also agreed with. Speaking on his Vibe with FIVE podcast, he said: “I think Wan-Bissaka for me [was the stand-out player].
“Mitoma has been the find of the season for me, he has given every team they have played against huge problems. And to be fair to Wan-Bissaka, he put the shackles on him.
“And we all know how good defensively one vs one Wan-Bissaka is and today he proved again he can handle top class players in good form. When it is me against you, he is as good as anyone out there.”