Arsene Wenger has praised Manchester United midfielder Fred for his second-half display at Old Trafford, despite continued criticism over the player's performances.
United came from behind once more in the Champions League to snatch all three points from Atalanta’s grasp thanks to a late winner from who else but Cristiano Ronaldo.
The visitors had gone into the break two goals ahead, courtesy of goals from Mario Pasalic and Merih Demiral.
United pulled a goal back eight minutes into the second half through Marcus Rashford, before Harry Maguire equalised in the 76th minute and then Ronaldo won it nine minutes from time.
The result means Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are now top of Group F with six points after three games, two more than second placed Atalanta.
Despite their late winner, United came under fire for their below-par performance on the night, but former Arsenal boss Wenger had plenty of positives to say about Fred.
"I would personally highlight the second half for Fred,” Wenger told beIN.
"Fred saved a few crosses in the box, defensively outstanding and he worked unbelievably hard in the second half.”
Fred started in defensive midfield for Solskjaer’s side alongside Scott McTominay, while Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic were left on the bench for the clash.
Solskjaer has, at times, faced criticism for choosing the pair in midfield as it can lead to United being very one-dimensional and flat in that area.
Fred missed the disappointing weekend defeat at Leicester after quarantine rules while away on international duty with Brazil, which prevented him from participating.
Tito’s side had also only just beaten Uruguay 4-1 on the morning before the fixture took place.
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And Brazil team-mate and former Barcelona right-back Dani Alves has blamed Solskjaer for any poor performance by Fred for United.
"Every Brazilian becomes world-class when wearing the national team jersey," Alves said, as quoted by The Mirror.
"I hear so many people complaining about Fred. But when he plays for Brazil he is better than all of their midfielders.
"The problem is the club or coach, not Fred."
Speaking after the game, Solskjaer himself dismissed any suggestion about his players poor performances.
“Don’t even start, don’t disrespect the players,” he said.
“They play for Man United and they know they’re the luckiest men in the world. I said that to them tonight. They’re the luckiest men in the world, the 11 [who start] and the subs are the ones who can also play for Man United and that’s what so many millions of boys and girls want to do.”
Meanwhile, the United boss admitted his side must stop leaking easy goals as they did against Atalanta.
“I thought we played well in the first half but two chances for them, two goals and that has to stop,” Solskjær said.
“We’ve got a habit of doing this at this club but in the first half I thought we played well – they never stopped believing and kept going.
“We need to defend better – I know that – because we are playing against very good teams in the next few weeks.”
United will now turn their attention to their Premier League clash with Liverpool on Sunday at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils will then travel to north London the following weekend to take on Nuno Espirito Santo’s side at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
