Maguire’s late score saves Amorim from more misery

For swathes of the last six years, Leicester City could savour the thought of Harry Maguire and Manchester United.

- RICHARD JOLLY

Not here, however, and not in injury time. Leicester were left with a sense of injustice, cursing the goal scored by the man they sold for a world-record fee for a centre-back. Maguire’s Old Trafford career has not always proceeded swimmingly, but on a night when they looked like drowning in their own incompetence, he instead turned rescuer.

A 93rd-minute header took the holders into the FA Cup fifth round in dramatic fashion; controversial, too, given that Maguire – and three of his teammates – had looked suspiciously offside when he ran on to Bruno Fernandes’s deep free-kick to plant an emphatic header in. Amid scenes of bedlam, with no VAR to spare Leicester, United’s act of escapology was complete. “We were not defeated in Fergie time, we were defeated in offside time,” said Leicester manager Ruud van Nistelrooy. “This was half a metre, clear in line. It is decided on a clear and obvious mistake, that is unacceptable and unthinkable at this level.”

Ruben Amorim admitted United were lucky. “With VAR it is not a goal and I think it’s important to have because it’s fair,” he said. And Leicester felt the scoreline was not. “That is not what the team deserves,” added Van Nistelrooy.

The end was cruel, but the match was fundamentally altered at half-time. Enter Alejandro Garnacho, a scorer in last season’s final. The Argentinian delivered neither goal against Leicester but he was the catalyst for a comeback, the man who injected excitement into a soporific, sorry display. “He changed the game with the runs behind,” Amorim said. The fact that the Argentinian was only a replacement underlined the way United stumbled and blundered their way through the opening 45 minutes.