Manchester United did it the hard way against Arsenal, but progressed to the next round of the FA Cup with a thrilling penalty shootout triumph in London.
The match burst into life after a cagey first half when Bruno Fernandes thundered home the opening goal on 52 minutes, but it was cancelled out by Gabriel Magalhaes who levelled for the hosts not long after Diogo Dalot was sent off just minutes later.
The score stayed locked at 1-1 all the way through to the end of extra time, but United goalkeeper Altay Bayindir made himself a hero in normal time with a penalty save from Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard.
The penalty was given away by Harry Maguire, who was harshly penalised for a challenge on Kai Havertz, but it was one of the only blots on his copybook in an otherwise imperious defensive display.
The Englishman made a colossal 11 clearances, the most of anyone on the pitch, and blocked an enormous five shots – nobody else blocked more than one.
Maguire also made two tackles and one interception to reach a total of 19 defensive actions as United repelled wave after wave of Arsenal pressure. Teammates Noussair Mazraoui managed 16 and Matthijs de Ligt 10 in a cohesive performance from United’s backline.
The 31-year-old racked up these impressive stats despite being substituted during extra time, 16 minutes before the end.
He was immense in the air, and won all four of his aerial duels as Mikel Arteta’s side pumped the United box full of crosses.
He was also successful on the floor, winning three of four ground duels contested, and beat his man once with a successful dribble.
After Diogo Dalot was sent off on the hour mark, the game settled even more into an attack versus defence dynamic, so United did not do too much with the ball.
But Maguire played a big part when his side were in possession, attempting 30 passes and completing 22 for an overall passing success rate of 73%.
Only his fellow centre-back Lisandro Martinez made more successful passes.
All stats taken from sofascore.
Featured image Alex Pantling via Getty Images
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Joe Ponting
Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried.
