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Jamie Jackson’s report has landed, so that’s my cue to go and find a piece of cheese. Thanks for your company, correspondence and views on the riddle that is Ruben Amorim.
“Could Zirkzee,” wonders David Wall, “become United’s equivalent of Darwin Nunez at Liverpool? No one is sure if they’re actually that good but they so often make an impact.” It’s a good line, but Nunez may not be too thrilled. Zirkzee has only done it twice for United as far as I can remember – the other being against Fulham on the first night of the season, ie about six months ago. His goals against Everton were more like the cherries on the top of a cake that had been baked, or at least put in the oven, by Marcus Rashford.
“Very good team performance,” Ruud adds. “Off the ball, good pressing – on the ball, very stable. Deserved to go 1-0 up into half-time… So we deserved to go into extra time and maybe penalties. Decisions like this in our level are hard to swallow.”
And here’s Ruud van Nistelrooy, with a headline waiting to happen. “We are not defeated in Fergie time,” he fumes. “We are defeated in offside time.”
“We have to believe it until the end,” says Ruben Amorim, “but this game has nothing to do with the time of Fergie. The performance, we have to do so much better. We didn’t have any energy in the beginning. Then in the second half we play a little bit better, with a little bit more speed, and then we manage to turn things around. So [it] was a good result, not a good performance.”
Is it the players, he is asked, is it the system, is it the coach? “It’s everything. And the coach is responsible.”
Why is Ruben Amorim like Erik ten Hag? Because he’s better in the cups. He now has five wins in seven cup games, plus the shoot-out triumph at Arsenal, so just the one defeat (at Spurs in the Carabao). In the league, as you know, he has lost seven out of 13. And lately, whatever the tournament, the home wins have been less than convincing – United were 1-0 down to Southampton and 1-0 down to Leicester.
This is nice.
Leicester will wonder how on earth they lost that game. And their answer may be: because the linesman, who was in the right place, didn’t see that Maguire was offside.
“The first half was nowhere near good enough,” Harry Maguire says. “The second half was a lot better… quicker tempo, we dominated the game.” He agrees that Garnacho was the game-changer, but mentions Zirkzee too. “I thought he had a big impact.”
Asked why United so often need this kind of late swing, he says: “Our record at Old Trafford’s been really poor. We lose that belief and it shows… Where we are in the Premier League is nowhere near good enough.”
Leicester were clearly the better team in the first half and had a lead to show for it. But they wilted after that, allowing United to dominate in a way that they hadn’t done since Everton were at Old Trafford, back in the days when Ruben Amorim was still enjoying his new job.
“Not a handball,” says Hugh Molloy, “and obviously offside. VAR anyone?”
Ruud van Nistelrooy finally loses a game at Old Trafford as a manager.
Maguire was offside, but with no VAR he will get away with it. Fernandes went long and Maguire’s wise old head did the rest, angling the header down and across Hermansen. It’s no way to treat your old team, but that’s Fergie time.
Manchester United’s Harry Maguire (third left) heads home. Photograph: Dave Thompson/AP
Harry Maguire (second left) celebrates with fellow goalscorer Joshua Zirkzee (left) and Rasmus Højlund. Photograph: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
Maguire soaks up the Old Trafford applause. Photograph: Peter Powell/Reuters
And they’ve done it!
90+3 min Justin handles the ball as Garnacho bears down again. Last chance for United …
90+2 min Fernandes takes route one, looking for Hojlund, who can’t give the centre-backs the slip.
90 min There will be three more minutes. Only three?
90 min United pile forward again. Garnacho has James Justin on toast, but he can’t quite find the jam.
89 min We appear to be heading for extra time. “Following on from Jamie Woods’ email,” says Andy Flintoff, “inverted wingers are great when paired with full-backs or other wide players to go outside them and overload the full-back areas. Without them, they just end up in the congested centre and are easier to defend narrowly against. I’m sure Hojlund would prefer to be attacking a cross coming in from the byline rather than from the corner of the penalty area.”
87 min Leicester are under siege again, but they may not mind that. Garnacho has a shot – straight at Hermansen, who gathers easily enough.
85 min Dalot produces a great run, but not a great cross. United fans may have heard this before.
83 min Ugarte jumps in with both feet on Winks and gets a yellow card. There’s no VAR till the fifth round, so he won’t see red (at least not yet).
82 min After that spell of United dominance, the game has gone back to being scrappy.
79 min Big chance for Garnacho, and a big miss! With the goal beckoning, he skews his shot into the side netting from about five yards. His finishing has been awry ever since Amorim stuck him on the naughty step with Rashford, seven long weeks ago.
Manchester United’s Rasmus Højlund reacts after Garnacho’s miss. Photograph: Dave Thompson/AP
78 min De Cordova-Reid , who set this game alight with his neat header, has now gone off, to be replaced by Kasey McAteer.
77 min The corner almost produces a chance at the other end as El Khannouss bombs away on the counter, but Mazraoui comes up with a very well-timed tackle.
76 min Garnacho makes yet another run and plays a cut-back to nobody. Undaunted, he tries again and wins a corner.
74 min Amad takes a leaf out of Garnacho’s book and bombs into the box. He reaches the byline and finds a cut-back, but Hojlund is crowded out.
72 min Ruben Amorim gets a chunk of credit for turning to Zirkzee, who hadn’t scored (from memory) since mid-December, when United scored three late goals at Spurs and still lost 4-3.
70 min United are on top now, at last. Maguire is aiming long down the left. He finds Dalot, who slips the ball inside to Garnacho, but his shot is into Row Z (for Zirkzee).
That was much better from United. Garnacho drove into the box and squared for Hojlund. His shot was blocked but the ball fell kindly for Zirkzee, who was just behind him and produced a nice calm pass into the net.
Manchester United’s Joshua Zirkzee (left) slots the ball home … Photograph: Dave Thompson/AP
Then celebrates after getting the home side back on level terms. Photograph: Richard Sellers/Allstar Picture Library Ltd/Sportsphoto
Joy for Zirkzee and the Manchester United players and fans, despair for Leicester City. Photograph: Ash Donelon/Manchester United/Getty Images
United have a shot on target. And it’s only gone in!
65 min Just before that, United sent on a sub: ZIrkzee for Mainoo. So much for that hymn book.
64 min Big chance! Garnacho breaks free again, chips the keeper… and sees Okoli clear off the line and onto the bar. Fabulous defending.
Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho shoots … Photograph: Peter Powell/Reuters
But Leicester City’s Caleb Okoli clears the ball off the line. Photograph: Peter Powell/Reuters
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