United Beyond Manchester

Ruud Van Nistelrooy was seemingly headed towards a third win in a Manchester United-Leicester City match this season before a late turnaround for the hosts. Alejandro Garnacho, Joshua Zirkzee, and Harry Maguire led the Reds back from 1-0 down to advance to the FA Cup Fifth Round.

Match Flow

Manchester United were frankly terrible in the first half. The Reds’ only two shot attempts came in the 21st and 22nd minutes and were off-target, combining for an expected goal total of 0.05.

An attempt by Manuel Ugarte to nutmeg Boubacar Soumare provided Bilal El Khannouss a chance to attack, and, unlike Manchester United’s attackers, he did. The 20-year-old Moroccan found Wilfred Ndidi, whose initial shot was saved but turned in by Bobby Decordova Reid to give Leicester City a 1-0 lead just before the half.

United improved at the beginning of the second half and began pushing forward quickly. Alejandro Garnacho changed the game after coming on at the start of the half and had a deflected effort cleared off the line by Caleb Okoli in the 65th minute.

Three minutes after nearly finding the net, Garnacho created Manchester United’s leveler. The Argentine forward beat his defender and crossed to Hojlund, whose effort deflected to Joshua Zirkzee for an easy finish and his first goal since mid-December.

The Reds created a couple of half-chances after the goal but only found the breakthrough moment in the final minute of stoppage time. A free kick from Bruno Fernandes was expertly placed, and Harry Maguire ran behind the visitor’s defense to head past Mads Hermansen to cap a 2-1 win at Old Trafford.

Analysis

Manchester United’s first half was defined by a complete lack of urgency. Without players attempting to get in behind or looking to break through opposition lines, Leicester were able to put United under pressure and not worry about anything coming the other way. It got so bad by the end of the first half that fans were booing every pass back from Amorim’s players and sarcastically cheered when Amad Diallo dribbled forward, looking to take Luke Thomas on in the 36th minute.

A critical first-half failure by Ruben Amorim was playing Patrick Dorgu on the right and Diogo Dalot on the left. Both players struggled on their weaker sides, as Leicester’s outside players were able to force the two back into pressure when they wanted to use their stronger foot. Had they flipped positions, the field could have been expanded, opening gaps for players and allowing Dalot and Dorgu to get down the line in attack.

Alejandro Garnacho’s introduction changed the game, as he was willing to take on defenders and run in behind. He nearly leveled the game in the 65th minute before creating the leveler in the 68th. He finished with five of United’s thirteen shots despite only playing one half to cap a man of the match performance off the bench.

Next Match

Manchester United will travel to London to face fellow struggling “Big Six” club Tottenham next Sunday after a nine-day break.