Emery’s line-up was a bit of a gamble in a few senses. Marco Verratti was just coming back from a calf injury, but he held up long enough to be a vital distributor for the goal scorers. His tandem partner Adrien Rabiot was the man-of-the-match, playing a stifling defense to protect a good but shuffled backline while allowing the midfielders to roam and attack. While Cavani, who is expected to score, got his later in the match, it was the mercurial Angel Di Maria who played his best match in a long while. Di Maria is a notorious hot and cold player, but it was he world class Argentine who showed up in this match.
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Robert Hay Jr. 