Manchester United welcomed Leicester City to Old Trafford looking to advance to the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Andre Onana replaced the injured Altay Bayindir and January signing Patrick Dorgu was given his debut under the lights of the Theatre of Dreams.
Diogo Dalot started as the left wing-back while Noussair Mazraoui, Harry Maguire and Leny Yoro got the call up to form the back three.
Manuel Ugarte and Bruno Fernandes were the midfield pair and Kobbie Mainoo was given a more advanced role as was the case in Romania in the Europa League.
Amad and Rasmus Hojlund completed the final part of United’s attack.
Here are five things we learnt from the match.
Patrick Dorgu was the lone bright spark in the first half
The Dane surprisingly started as the right wing-back but he was certainly United’s biggest threat in the half.
He was energetic and whilst he predominantly operated on the right, he dropped into the middle of the park on occasion.
All of United’s attacking threat came down the right hand side and this was no coincidence as the 20 year found himself in a few dangerous positions.
He did get knocked off the ball a few times but that is to be expected as he gets used to the speed of the Premier League.
The youngster will consider himself unlucky to have been taken off at half-time as he was arguably the home team’s best player.
Lethargic United
The Red Devils have a massive issue in attack. Everyone knows about the lack of depth which was weakened even further in the January window.
But the exact same problems were on display as they have been all season at Old Trafford.
United were slow in possession and made few to no attacking runs off the ball.
Hojlund was a complete passenger and Fernandes was a shadow of the player that he usually is.
The home side missed Lisandro Martinez’s line-breaking balls as they played in front of a comfortable Leicester side who were never troubled in a dull first half of football.
Ruud van Nistelrooy nullifies United for long stretches
The former United coach claimed in his pre-match press conference that he knew United’s team “inside out” and this was clear.
With an objectively much weaker team, his Leicester side were comfortable on the ball and posed the greater threat in attack in the first half.
United did gain the upper hand in the second half but Van Nistelrooy can hold his head up high as his side were narrowly beaten at his old stomping ground.
Garnacho makes the difference
The Red Devils were incredibly flat in the first half and Ruben Amorim reacted by bringing on Garnacho.
The Argentine was electric and caused the away side all sorts of problems down the left hand side.
He did not register an assist but his fine work was a large reason behind Zirkzee’s equaliser and he won the free kick that eventually led to United’s late winner.
The Old Trafford crowd responded with “Viva Garnacho” ringing out around the stadium and the 20 year old certainly showed Amorim that he has much to add to United this season.
Joshua Zirkzee has won striker debate for now
The Dutchman came on for the ineffectual Mainoo in the second half and scored only a matter of minutes later.
He contributed a lot from a build-up perspective and showed some nice flashes of the trickery that made him shine in Italy.
In contrast, Hojlund could not get into the game at all and continues to look all at sea as United’s number nine.
It is only fair that Zirkzee gets the chance to play consistently as the spear of Amorim’s side moving forward.
Featured image Gareth Copley via Getty Images
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
