Harry Maguire let his feet do the talking on Wednesday night after former Premier League defender Ashley Williams accused the Manchester United player of "hiding" during games.
The 30-year-old centre-back has enjoyed a resurgence of late. After being in and out of Erik ten Hag's plans at the start of the campaign, he has started 12 consecutive games.
But earlier this week, former Swansea and Everton man Williams ripped into Maguire for failing to demand the ball enough from goalkeeper Andre Onana in their defeat against Newcastle.
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In fact, Williams says he noticed Maguire's "sneaky" behaviour, when he continually signalled for Onana to distribute the ball to Aaron Wan-Bissaka instead of himself.
Speaking on the Vibe with Five podcast, he said: "Do you know how many times he put himself in a position where he knew 'I know that he knows that I can't get this ball of Onana, so I'm leaving him.
"I can't deal with this sneaky, kind of 'ah I'm going to look like' - so how many times did you go inside and point to [Aaron] Wan-Bissaka? Like as if 'Onana give it to Wan-Bissaka and I'll get it on the next one'."
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Williams added: "He's hiding. There are so many accounts of it. That's why my melon was going when I was watching it, because everyone's had their say about him, he's turned the corner - no you haven't."
After the comments surfaced, Maguire produced one of his most impressive performances to date in their 2-1 win over Chelsea.
In fact, the England international played a crucial role in Scott McTominay's winner at Old Trafford, receiving the ball on the half turn before driving into space and laying it off to Sergio Reguilon.
Reguillon soon found Alejandro Garnacho, who delivered an inch-perfect cross to McTominay. You can watch Maguire involvement in the goal below at around the 30 second mark.
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Here is the compilation below:
Ahead of Wednesday's clash at Old Trafford, Maguire was awarded November's Premier League Player of the Month award after a series of impressive performances.
Ten Hag recently praised the defender's mentality and contribution to the team's recent success.
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"Absolutely. Very important. And he fought back and he showed great mentality. He can be proud of himself. But as I say: we are in a season, we are in the right direction," Ten Hag told MUTV.
"Harry is in the right direction with this team. Now we make the next steps because we want to be successful and Harry is very ambitious. He wants to win trophies. So then, you know, you have to give every day your best."
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images - Amazon Prime VideoTopics: Harry Maguire, Manchester United, Chelsea, Premier League