Manchester United v Leicester LIVE: Result after Harry Maguire scores offside winner in FA Cup
Ruben Amorim’s Man Utd turned around a poor performance in the first half with two second-half goals to knock Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Leicester City out of the FA Cup
Manchester United clawed back from a goal down to beat Leicester City in a 2-1 fourth-round FA Cup victory on Friday at Old Trafford, thanks to a last-gasp header from veteran defender Harry Maguire plus a strike from Joshua Zirkzee.
The game appeared to be heading into extra time before Maguire headed in the winner in the 93rd minute from Bruno Fernandes' free kick, seconds before the final whistle. Replays showed he was offside, but VAR is not deployed in the first four rounds of the FA Cup.
The result handed United only their third win in their last eight games at Old Trafford across all competitions.
United were poor in the first half and Leicester capitalised in the 42nd minute when Wilfred Ndidi's shot was blocked by keeper Andre Onana but Bobby De Cordova-Reid was there to head in the rebound from close range.
Zirkzee levelled in the 68th minute when Rasmus Hojlund's effort was blocked by defender Caleb Okoli and the ball fell perfectly for Zirkzee to tap home just three minutes after he entered the game.
Furious Ruud van Nistelrooy condemns ‘unthinkable’ Harry Maguire offside goal
Ruud van Nistelrooy was furious after an "unacceptable" and "unthinkable" error saw Harry Maguire's offside winner stand as Leicester exited the FA Cup at his former club Manchester United.
The Dutchman started the season as one of Erik ten Hag's assistants and stepped up as interim manager, before being let go by Ruben Amorim and swiftly taking up the job as Foxes boss.
Bobby De Cordova-Reid's first-half header had Leicester dreaming of a fourth-round win at Old Trafford, but substitute Joshua Zirkzee levelled after United reacted to being booed off at the break.
Extra time beckoned until Maguire headed home to make it 2-1 deep in stoppage time, sparking bedlam in the stands and fury among the Leicester ranks.
The United defender had clearly strayed offside when the ball was sent over, but VAR is not introduced until the next round.
Amorim: 'A good result, not a good performance'
And I’ll leave you with Ruben Amorim’s verdict:
"We had to believe until the end but this game has nothing to do with the time of Fergie. I think the performance, we have to do so much better with the ball, without the ball.
"We didn't have any energy in the beginning, especially in the first-half. Then in the second half we played a little bit better, with a little more speed, winning second balls. Then we managed to turn things around so it was a good result not a good performance.
"The coach is the first responsible, when one team doesn't perform, doesn't improve, it is the coach but we are here to do things and to see the game, to study the game and try to improve for the next game.
"I think it's the small things, if you see the games sometimes it's to control the ball, to have the ball, don't give the ball away in the first pressure. It's the small things, it's the big things, it's everything.
"It's this moment, it's hard away but especially at home but we have to cope with that and we will try to do it next game."
Van Nistelrooy: Offside decision was 'hard to swallow'
Leicester manager Ruud van Nistelrooy tells ITV: "We were not defeated in ‘Fergie time’, we were defeated in ‘offside time’.
"This wasn't necessary. VAR, you have in a couple centimetres, a couple of inches; this was half a metre. That was a hard one to take because the team deserves to draw in the end. Then extra time, stay in the game, you never know what happens.
"It was a very good team performance, we started really well, pressing United. On the ball very stable. Deserved to go 1-0 up at half-time. Of course we know in the second half they're going to put some pressure on us and some chances but not even that much.
"We deserved to go into extra time, go for the battle in extra time and maybe penalties.
"Decisions like these in our level are hard to swallow."
Maguire’s luck and Garnacho’s skill save Amorim from more Man Utd misery
For swathes of the last six years, Leicester City could savour the thought of Harry Maguire and Manchester United. Not here, however, and not in injury time. Maguire had been a fine servant to Leicester but they banked a world-record fee for a centre-back, some £80m, when they sold him to United in 2019. Maguire’s Old Trafford career has not always proceeded swimmingly, but on a night when they looked like drowning in their own incompetence, he instead turned rescuer.
A 93rd-minute header took the holders into the FA Cup fifth round in dramatic fashion; controversial, too, given that Maguire – and three of his teammates – had looked suspiciously offside when he ran on to Bruno Fernandes’s deep free-kick to plant an emphatic header in. Amid scenes of bedlam, with no VAR to spare Leicester, United’s act of escapology was complete.
Maguire’s luck and Garnacho’s skill save Amorim from more Man Utd misery
Match-winner Harry Maguire speaks
"A great finish to the game. The second half we played a lot better. The first-half was nowhere near good enough, we played at a slow tempo and we didn't really get going. We probably deserved to go into half-time losing.”
On Garnacho’s second-half display: “He made a big impact, he always does that when he comes off the bench, so credit to him, he's ready, he's focused. We knew at half-time he'd bring a little more direct and pace into the team. But Joshua Zirkzee also came on and I thought he made a big difference.”
Full-time: Man Utd 2-1 Leicester
Roy Keane was scathing of United’s performance in the first half, calling them “boring”. He is a little more positive about the second, but still doesn’t seem particularly impressed.
"The linesman has to see it [Maguire being offside]. United got out of jail tonight. The performance itself was nowhere near good enough."
Full-time: Man Utd 2-1 Leicester
And that is that. Alejandro Garnacho was the game-changer, coming off the bench at half-time. United were awful in the first half and not much better for early parts of the second, but eventually they found some urgency and pinned Leicester back. Even so, that was a cruel way for the Foxes to go out of the FA Cup.
Man Utd 2-1 Leicester
It was offside, quite clearly, but there is no VAR in the FA Cup. That’s so tough on Leicester.
GOAL! Man Utd 2-1 Leicester (Maguire, 90+3 min)
United have done it! Bruno Fernandes launches a last-ditch free-kick into the box and there’s Harry Maguire at the far post to head it across goal and into the far corner.
Heartbreak for Leicester.
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