Harry Maguire names Man Utd star who 'always' makes big impact off the bench

Harry Maguire was the hero for Manchester United against Leicester City as he headed home the winning goal deep into stoppage time at Old Trafford on Friday night.

United were 1-0 down at the interval but came back in the second half to book their spot in the fifth round and continue the defence of their FA Cup trophy. It was a weekend of FA Cup action that saw Chelsea and Liverpool knocked out of the competition, as they lost at Brighton and Hove Albion and Plymouth Argyle, respectively. Tottenham Hotspur were also eliminated as they were beaten by Aston Villa in an all-Premier League affair.

After the win over the Foxes, Maguire said: "It's an amazing feeling to score in the last minute at the Stretford End, it’s something I’ve never done in my Manchester United career, so it’s something that I’m proud of, I’m sure my family and friends were jumping up cheering. It’s one I’ll never forget really, to score that winner in front of the Stretford End."

Maguire hails Garnacho

Speaking about the difference made by Alejandro Garnacho after his introduction off the bench, Maguire said: “I think he made a big impact, he always does that when he comes off the bench, so credit to him, he’s ready, he’s focused. We knew at half-time he’d probably bring a little bit more directness and pace into the team. And also, Josh [Zirkzee] came on and I think he had a big impact in the game."

He added: "[It was] a great finish to the game. The second half we played a lot better, the first half was nowhere near good enough, we played at a slow tempo and didn’t really get going and probably deserved to go in at half-time losing. But I think in the second half, we came out at a lot higher tempo, we dominated the game and it really felt like we were going to get that winner, it wouldn’t fall to us [but], yeah, thankfully, I put it in the back of the net."

Controversy over winning goal

VAR is not in use during the third and fourth rounds of this year’s FA Cup and Maguire appeared to stray offside for his winning goal. After the game, United boss Ruben Amorim said: "The goal was offside. We should have VAR. It should be here to overturn the decision because it's hard on the opponent, it's hard on Ruud [van Nistelrooy]. But in the second half we managed to change the game a little bit, but the performance, we were poor in this game. We showed some spirit, more energy in the second half. Some players also came in and helped the team, so it was a good result."

Former United midfielder Roy Keane said of the incident: "Sometimes they criticise the big clubs for getting the decisions for them and that's a great example of it. that was such a bad decision. We talk about United needing some luck [in the cup competitions] but you have got to get those big decisions right and that's a shocking mistake."

In other news, United have already turned their attention to the summer transfer window after a frustrating January.