Harry Maguire strikes late as Man United beat Leicester in FA Cup

LONDON – Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim was at times seen shaking his head, and the Portuguese admitted that it was a “poor performance” from his side despite beating Leicester City in the FA Cup on Feb 7.

Harry Maguire headed a last-gasp winner as the holders came from behind to beat the Foxes 2-1, denying club legend and opposition boss Ruud van Nistelrooy a fairy-tale return to Old Trafford.

Bobby de Cordova-Reid put the visitors ahead late in the first half of the fourth-round tie against a pallid United, who have lost their fear factor at home and were booed by the crowd at the interval.

But the introduction of Alejandro Garnacho after the break gave the Red Devils a different dimension and fellow substitute Joshua Zirkzee levelled midway through the second period.

Amorim’s team pushed for a winner, which finally came when former Leicester defender Maguire headed in Bruno Fernandes’ free kick deep into stoppage time.

But the United manager, who is struggling to implement his ideas at Old Trafford three months into his reign, did not like what he saw from his players.

“We didn’t have any energy in the beginning, especially in the first half,” he told ITV.

“Then in the second half we played a little bit better, with a little more speed, winning second balls.

“We managed to turn things around, so it was a good result but not a good performance.

“The coach is the first responsible. When one team doesn’t perform, doesn’t improve, it is the coach... we are here to do things and to see the game, to study the game and try to improve.”

United scored eight goals in two games against Leicester earlier in the campaign during van Nistelrooy’s brief spell as interim boss after the sacking of Erik ten Hag.

This time, their former star striker was in the opposition dugout and was hoping to capitalise on their poor home form.

The Red Devils, who beat Manchester City in the final at Wembley last May, were short of confidence after five defeats in their past seven matches at home in all competitions.

They were tepid in attack in the early stages and Leicester, the 2021 FA Cup winners, gave the Old Trafford crowd a familiar sinking feeling in the 42nd minute.

Manuel Ugarte gave the ball away and Bilal El Khannouss got to the byeline before pulling the ball back to Wilfred Ndidi.

United goalkeeper Andre Onana saved Ndidi’s shot with his feet but de Cordova-Reid nodded home from close range.

United’s players traipsed off at half-time to a chorus of boos after failing to manage a shot on target.

Amorim brought on Garnacho at half-time for debutant Patrick Dorgu in a desperate search for inspiration, and the Argentina international helped created United’s equaliser as his cross led to Zirkzee tapping into an empty net for just his fifth goal of the season.

Amorim’s men looked the more likely to find a winner but it did not arrive until the 93rd minute, when Maguire headed home as Old Trafford erupted.

The England defender appeared to be offside but there is no VAR at this stage of the competition.

Asked about losing in “Fergie time” – famously coined in reference to former manager Alex Ferguson’s United teams frequently scoring in stoppage time – a frustrated van Nistelrooy said: “We are not defeated in Fergie time, we are defeated in Offside time.

“(VAR) wasn’t necessary (to see that it was offside). Look, VAR you have a couple of centimetres, couple of inches.

“But this was half a metre clear in line. It’s a hard one to take.

“We deserved to go into extra time and go for the battle in extra time and maybe penalties.”
AFP, REUTERS