For the vast majority of this season, right-backs have left the field chuckling at the abject performances of Memphis Depay.
The Manchester United winger hasn’t exactly backed up the hype expected of him since arriving from PSV Eindhoven in the summer.
A good performance was followed by an awful performance which was followed by an average performance, and so his season went.
Until Thursday night when it looked like we were watching an entirely different player.
The Dutchman ran riot on the left hand side of the Old Trafford pitch all night and he turned FC Midtjylland defender Andre Romer’s night into a living nightmare.
Depay did this to Romer.
And this to Romer.
And shortly after, Romer was shown his second yellow card and given his marching orders.
After the game, which Manchester United won 5-1, Romer was interviewed by Danish outlet Bold.dk and the 22-year-old defender admitted he was almost brought to tears by the difficulty of the occasion.
“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 (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.”
