Manchester United legend and Leicester City boss Ruud van Nistelrooy made no secret of his displeasure with the fact that Harry Maguire’s last-gasp winner in their FA Cup fourth-round clash at Old Trafford was allowed to stand.
Bobby De Cordova-Reid put Leicester ahead just before half time. Alejandro Garnacho’s introduction at the interval breathed some life into United, as they started to play with more urgency.
The Argentine winger delivered a cross into the box, which ended up in the path of fellow substitute Joshua Zirkzee. The Netherlands international made no mistake, tapping it in from close range into the back of an empty goal.
It appeared like extra time would be needed to break the deadlock but Maguire’s thumping header at the death secured United the victory and sent them to the fifth round of the competition.
Replays showed that Maguire may have been in an offside position when Bruno Fernandes delivered the ball into his path.
The goal was not ruled out because there was no VAR. In December, the FA announced that VAR technology would only be used from the fifth round onwards in the FA Cup this season.
After the final whistle, a seething Van Nistelrooy said [via Express], “We are not defeated in Fergie time, we are defeated in offside time. VAR wasn’t necessary. VAR you have for a couple of centimetres or a couple of inches.”
“This was half a metre, clear in line. That’s a hard one to take because the team deserved the draw in the end, the extra time. We stay in the game and you never know what happens.”
“Was a very good team performance, started really well, pressing United and on the ball very, very stable. We deserved to go 1-0 up into half-time.”
“Of course we knew second half there was going to be some pressure on us and some chances but not even that much. So we deserved to go into extra time and go for the battle and maybe penalties.”
“But yeah, decisions like these, in our level, are hard to swallow.”
Defeat at Old Trafford means that the Foxes have now suffered eight losses from their last nine matches across all competitions.
Featured image Gareth Copley 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!
