Harry Maguire was a constant struggler as Manchester United crashed to a 2-0 loss at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon.
While Man United were the dominant side going into the half-time break, enjoying the lion’s share of possession and taking a barrage of shots, they capitulated in the second half, showing their defensive vulnerability from the offset.
Despite maintaining a meagre 33% possession of the ball, Palace were deadly on the counter-attack, catching United off guard on several occasions.
Sadly, Maguire was unable to mobilise his teammates in an effort to shut out the Palace attack.
Just four minutes after the start of the second half, Maguire showed his frustration, earning an unnecessary yellow card by taking out the legs of Jean-Phillipe Mateta.
Despite being one of United’s best players in the air, he was completely absent in the 64th minute, when Daniel Munoz’s floating header hit the crossbar and fell to Mateta, who buried the ball into the back of the net.
While invisible for the first goal, Maguire was completely at fault for the second. Although Mateta appeared to be offside when he scored from a quick counter, it was Maguire who kept him onside. What’s worse is that the centre-back was standing in an unhelpful area, not covering any attacking player.
If there was one area of Maguire’s game that was decent, it was his headers. The Englishman won six of his nine aerial duels.
While he made five clearances and four interceptions, he struggled to perform deep in United’s final third. He made just one tackle the entire match.
Maguire completed 58 of his 73 passes for a 79% accuracy. Notably, he made one key pass.
While he completed three of six long balls, Maguire did not attempt a cross.
Although Maguire was strong in the air and made some impressive interceptions, his mistakes were at fault for the loss, particularly by playing Mateta onside for the second goal.
Ultimately, Maguire will want to reflect long and hard on this match so that he can rediscover his form and once again be the capable defender that he has been on multiple occasions throughout the season.
(Stats via Sofascore)
Featured image Michael Regan via Getty Images
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Mathew Cohen
A faithful Manchester United supporter, Mathew has worked as a football writer and analyst for SB Nation, FanSided, and now The Peoples Person. Mathew’s heroes include David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Sir Alex Ferguson, all of whom played their part in creating some special childhood memories.
