Legendary Premier League striker Alan Shearer has lauded the Manchester United trio of Altay Bayindir, Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt for their respective performances in the FA Cup victory against Arsenal.
Bruno Fernandes broke the deadlock moments after the break but Gabriel Magalhães equalised for the hosts after Diogo Dalot was sent off for a second bookable offence.
The Gunners blew the chance to go 2-1 up when Martin Ødegaard had a controversial penalty saved by Bayindir, who got the nod to start between the sticks ahead of Andre Onana.
Bayindir also made a string of excellent saves towards the end of regular time, to keep his side in the game.
Eventually, a penalty shootout was needed to settle the tie and Bayindir saved yet another penalty, this time denying Kai Havertz.
Joshua Zirkzee buried his winning kick into the corner to send United through to the fourth round of the competition, where they will face Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Leicester City.
There were other several standout performers, including Maguire and De Ligt, who were solid for the entire game.
Speaking on BBC after the final whistle, Shearer lauded Bayindir, De Ligt and Maguire.
The former Newcastle man said [via The Daily Mail], “He [Bayindir] holds his nerve, he doesn’t blink first.”
“It was a three-way tie between him and De Ligt and Maguire who I thought were also superb but just because of his penalty save, I thought I would give it to him [the man of the match award].”
“When you get given an opportunity, you have to take it and he took it today.”
On Dalot’s red card, Shearer pointed out, “Once he [Dalot] commits to go in for that challenge he’s got to win that ball. He knows what is going to happen if he doesn’t.”
“Even the slightest touch, he’s going over. You can’t really complain with that when you’re on a yellow card. If you’re going to make that challenge, you have to get up and you have to win that ball.”
Up next for Rubem Amorim and his players is a home meeting with Southampton on Thursday.
Featured image Julian Finney via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
