When Memphis Depay almost made a defender cry with outrageous rabona nutmeg
A lot was expected of Memphis Depay when Manchester United signed him for £31 million in 2015.
The then 21-year-old was one of the hottest properties in European football after a campaign in which he scored 22 goals for PSV, helping them secure their first Dutch title since 2008.
But the winger lasted just one season at Old Trafford, scoring twice in 29 Premier League appearances.
It was in the Europa League that Depay showed glimpses of his talent with five goals in 11 appearances.
And there’s no doubting his best performance in a United shirt.
It came during United’s 5-1 victory over Midtjylland at Old Trafford – a match remembered for the emergence of Marcus Rashford. Rashford was supposed to be a substitute but an injury to Anthony Martial in the warm-up saw him make his debut and score twice.
Rashford obviously made all the headlines but it was a night that Depay had a lot of fun – at poor Andre Romer’s expense.
And a video has been shared on remembering the outrageous piece of skill that almost reduced Midtjylland’s right-back to tears.
Depay produced an incredible rabona nutmeg on Romer and to find Juan Mata in the process.
You can almost see the moment Romer’s soul leaves his body.
It wasn’t the last time Depay would nutmeg Romer with a brilliant piece of skill that night as he also did this…
In the closing minutes, the Midtjylland defender received his marching orders after picking up two yellow cards. With Romer off the pitch, Depay got himself on the scoresheet to rub salt in his wounds.
After the match, Romer actually admitted he was close to tears.
“I have never been this close to crying after a match,” he said. “I am devastated, and it’s not going to be a good night of sleep,” he said.
“He (Depay) is the best player I have ever faced. It is difficult to argue for anything else when he plays like this. He is the best. He can do anything. He will go inside, outside, turn me around and use his incredible pace to get past me.
“Obviously, I would have loved some more backup, but when I am the one being destroyed over and over, it is not fair to blame my teammates for anything.
“The second yellow card is a redundancy. Completely unnecessary. It will be a game I remember for a very long time.”
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