FA Cups news: Late Harry Maguire header sees Red Devils past Leicester City

Harry Maguire scored a stoppage-time header to send Manchester United into the FA Cup fifth round at the expense of Leicester City.

Sports News Blitz writer Robert Bore takes a look at another topsy-turvy performance from Ruben Amorim’s side.

A waking nightmare

When I was a kid, I had two recurring bad dreams.

The first was being trapped in some sort of factory, all rust and metal, dark and claustrophobic. I'd usually wake up rolled up in my bedding in a bit of a hot sweat. A psychologist's wet dream – not mine.

The second was a little less complex. Everyone on my estate was turning into vampires, including my girlfriend's brother, who would step sinisterly out of the shadows and flash his new fangs to frighten the life out of me and I'd end up barricaded in my primary school's staff room.

It was probably more to do with watching dodgy horror movies from Blockbuster a little too early in life than any underlying mental state. Anyway, The Lost Boys is one of my favourite films so the vampire thing did no lasting damage.

I didn't think as an adult I'd have a third recurring nightmare.

But I do. It’s Manchester United. In particular, it’s Manchester United first halves.

Woeful first half from hosts

Let me be clear: I had no intention of writing about this game.

But as a pan of cold tap water slowly warms through on the hob to the point where it leaves behind a gentle simmer and eventually boils over, so did my patience when Bobby De Cordova-Reid reacted quickest to nod the loose ball home in front of the Stretford End and put Leicester 1-0 up.

And it wasn't just the fact that a pants Leicester side had suddenly realised that we are just as bad and had a pop.

It was also the fact that the competition holders, at home, had gone behind first – again – and had moreover failed to record a shot on target or lay anything like a glove on Ruud van Nistelrooy's cannon-fodder Foxes.

Plus, Rasmus Hojlund had just seven first-half touches. It was all a bit much to be honest.

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Red Devils improve in second half

The game did change after the break.

New-boy Patrick Dorgu was sacrificed at half-time, some debut for the 20-year-old. It was a bit of a shock to be fair as I thought he looked bright and was perhaps our best performer while he was on.

His replacement Alejandro Garnacho made the difference, though, even though Caleb Okoli somehow shinned a clearance from the United youngster onto his own bar but clear to safety after 65 minutes.

Fellow sub Joshua Zirkzee equalised soon after with Garnacho the architect down the left and Hojlund unlucky, the Dutchman in the right place at the right time to tap home a rebound.

Garnacho was clearly in the mood and he constantly ran at the Leicester defence. If not for better timing and positioning from the midfield, his dangerous cut-backs could have been rewarded.

Late winner seals fifth-round berth

Then it happened.

Harry Maguire nodded in a ridiculously blatant offside winner in Fergie Time and United were through.

A considerable amount of wallpaper paste had been applied to the performance to paper over the gaping chasm that was United's first-half display.

Thank the gods United resisted the overtures of Chelsea for one of their crown jewels, who walked away with the man of the match award despite only a 45-minute cameo.

The hosts had lost five of their last seven games at home before tonight and conceded 32 goals in 20 matches across all competitions since Amorim’s first game in charge.

Staggeringly, it was something like the 13th or 14th time United had conceded first in all competitions this term.

Is that a tactic? Is it simply bad luck? Or is it just a very poor, weak mentality?

I'm a little tired of saying ‘only time will tell’, but I guess only time will tell.

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