Casemiro can’t stop scoring headed goals

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Manchester United’s narrow 2-1 win over Brentford was met with another man of the match performance from Casemiro – who continues to prove his irreplaceability.

The Brazilian midfielder scored his ninth goal of the season, moving him to second for goals by a midfielder in the Premier League this season – behind only Morgan Gibbs-White.

It was his eighth headed goal of the campaign. That’s double the amount of anyone else in the league, with strikers Raul Jimenez, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Ollie Watkins behind him on four each.

In all of Europe’s top five leagues, Casemiro has scored the most goals not only from his noggin, but from set-pieces. Edmond Tapsoba of Bayer Leverkusen and Oviedo’s Federico Viñas sit second on that list – on five each.

Of Manchester United’s 17 set-piece goals this campaign, he’s been responsible for scoring eight of them (nearly half). Only Arsenal have scored more from set-pieces this campaign, and no player in the league has a higher percentage of set-piece goals to their name.

Perhaps most impressively, Casemiro is not Harry Maguire. He’s not Virgil van Dijk. He’s a combative player, an excellent fighter, and possesses everything you’d want to be a key player in both boxes. But he only wins about 50% of his total aerial duels. This is not a player who would be expected to score this many headed goals. Ten players rank ahead of him for aerial duel percentage at United alone in 2025-26.

Harry Maguire – the outfielder with the highest percentage of aerial duels won this season in the league (78.5%), has just scored 1 goal this campaign by comparison. So while the Brazilian’s combativeness and ability to rise above defenders is impressive, he’s far more than just a commanding aerial threat. Casemiro’s scoring record is in large part down to his movement.

A few of his goals have been scored off flick-on’s from players like Maguire – where he’s the second player to nod the ball after a set-piece.

His goal against Brentford represented the epitome of this approach.

Fernandes floats the ball up toward an unmarked Maguire. As the ball travels toward Maguire, Casemiro’s already ready to curve a run toward the back-post. Maguire knows exactly where to put the ball.

By the time Maguire makes contact, Casemiro’s already found his scoring position.

As the Brentford defenders inevitably ball-watch, the Brazilian now only needs a good leap. He leaps early, meaning Brentford’s defenders are left floored. All they can do is lean into him, since they’ve already lost sight of him, and thus, lost the battle.

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Many of Casemiro’s goals have come from brute force straight from the delivery of Bruno Fernandes. But many have also come from this ability to know where to pop up. To lurk in open space, on the off chance that the cross or flick-on will find him.

Remember his goal against Chelsea when Luke Shaw leapt above all of the Blues’ ball watching defenders? The Brazilian was just waiting for something to happen at the back-post.

And it did.

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Once getting the ball onto his head, he’s become clinical. His ability to redirect the ball with the exact type of finish needed has been remarkable. Against Newcastle, he got to the back-post to redirect the ball into the bottom corner. Against Aston Villa, he needed to float it over the top of the keeper. Against Leeds, he needed a stronger connection to beat the keeper from a further distance.

Despite all eight of these goals, no team has figured out how to stop him. Even Brentford, who have conceded the second fewest goals from set-pieces this season (now seven), couldn’t find a way to double team him effectively.

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All Nathan Collins could do was wave hello!

Casemiro’s not only become a constant threat in the air, but a genuinely smart scorer of goals.

They won’t find another player that can replace what he does on the defensive end, let alone replicate his remarkable record in front of goal this season. Perhaps the greatest evidence to this is Casemiro himself, who’s previous season-best was a six-goal campaign for Real Madrid back in 2020-21. Four of those goals were scored with his head – the only other time in his career he’s gotten above two headed goals in a single season. If Casemiro were replacing himself next season, even he might not be able to replicate this.

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For now, Manchester United fans have to enjoy every moment they have left with Casemiro. Not only was he the clinical scorer of their first, but he was the key defensive destructor in Brentford’s desperate hopes to claw their way back to a draw. Without him, Manchester United would have been left with a massive hole. They just have to hope to find some level of replacement for the next campaign, to ensure that hole never actually comes to light.