A Carabao Cup fourth-round fixture at home to Championship opposition, just three days after the World Cup final, felt like a prime opportunity for Zidane Iqbal to finally make his full Manchester United debut.
The Iraq international, who has been on United's books since the age of nine, is considered to be one of the most exciting prospects emerging from the club's state-of-the-art academy system. He is a well-respected character at Old Trafford and he has most certainly left his calling card when opportunities have been presented to him under Erik ten Hag.
Those opportunities under the Dutchman, however, have all comes in friendlies. Iqbal featured in five of United's six pre-season friendlies during the summer and started each of the two fixtures they recently played in Spain as part of their warm-weather training camp during the World Cup break.
