Scott McTominay was at the heart of the battle between Manchester United and Leeds United on Sunday afternoon.Despite not being a natural-born defensive midfielder, the Old Trafford academy prospect was called upon to screen Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire against the pressing onslaught of Marcelo Biesla's side.In the end, United did enough to take three points from a rain-sodden Elland Road with Harry Maguire, Bruno Fernandes, Fred and Anthony Elanga all finding the net in a 4-2 victory.
McTominay vs Leeds
And that's despite the fact that the Red Devils kissed goodbye to a 2-0 lead in the space of just a few seconds when Rodrigo Moreno and Raphinha defied David de Gea in just two second-half minutes.
However, while United ultimately managed to pull another two-goal lead out of the fire to defeat their Yorkshire rivals, McTominay still had his hands full across 90 minutes of feisty football and hard-hitting tackles.
The 25-year-old is well respected as a combative and energetic presence in the heart of United's midfield, but some of his defensive work against Leeds wasn't up to scratch with his usual efficiency and execution.
Lucky not to be sent off
In fact, according to SofaScore, McTominay was United's joint-lowest-rated starter in the 4-2 win with many fans and reporters alike believing that he was actually lucky not to receive a red card.
The second-half, in particular, had United supporters crossing their fingers and scrambling for a four-leaf clover as McTominay seemed to tempt fate almost every minute.
With the Scot racking up six fouls throughout the game, there was general bewilderment that McTominay wasn't hooked off by Ralf Rangnick even when he was finally slapped with a precarious booking.
Marry that to winning just five of his 17 ground duels as well as conceding possession 19 times and it's fair to say that McTominay's performance, albeit one that showed great desire and passion, was one that diced with death.
McTominay shows off his battle scars
So, it's perhaps not surprising that 'McSauce' had his fair share of war wounds to show for his efforts at Elland Road with the United general taking to Instagram to reveal the damage.
In a post captioned: "Leeds Away - Proper game," the United midfielder showed off his bloodied left ankle complete with cuts presumably from the very tackles that many thought he should have been sent off for.
However, red card or not, there's no denying that the battle scars from his handy day's work at Leeds look painful, so be sure to check out how McTominay emerged from the battle of Elland Road down below:
Yeh... it's fair to say McTominay got stuck in.
McTominay walking a fine line
The Scottish midfielder is something of a divisive character amongst the Old Trafford faithful and his battling performance against Leeds, complete with war wounds, was living proof of exactly why that is.
United fans are often happy to see the brand of battling football - which is always so sought after in the English game - that McTominay channels, but there's also that quite acknowledgement that it can go too far sometimes.
In the end, the United man dodged an early bath amongst the flying tackles and no-nonsense defending in Yorkshire, but he should be careful to finesse that warrior-like attitude ever so slightly in the future.
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That being said, he can rest assured that the United supporters will love him for putting his body - or ankle, at least - on the line for a well-fought Premier League victory.