Why Victor Lindelof took penalty instead of Alejandro Garnacho in Manchester United shootout defeat
Man Utd were beaten on penalties by Fulham in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
Ruben Amorim says it was an 'obvious choice' for Victor Lindelof to take a penalty during Manchester United’s shootout defeat to Fulham over the weekend. United were knocked out of the FA Cup following a 4-3 shootout loss that saw both Lindelof and Joshua Zirkzee have efforts saved by Bernd Leno.
United had rallied to take the match to extra-time as a superb strike from Bruno Fernandes cancelled out Calvin Bassey's opener from a corner. Chido Obi went close to a first professional goal that could have won the game for his side, while both Leno and Andre Onana made good stops to deny any further goals.
It meant the fifth round tie would be decided by a penalty shootout, and a United side depleted of 10 senior stars had to give spot-kicks to players who would not typically take them in a match scenario.
Why Victor Lindelof took a penalty vs Fulham
Manchester United players had been practising penalty kicks in the build-up to their match against Fulham in the FA Cup, and Ruben Amorim had little concern about allowing defender Victor Lindelof to take on in any subsequent shootout.
Bruno Fernandes set the tone with an emphatic first penalty to send Bernd Leno the wrong way before Diogo Dalot fired into the bottom corner to extend his remarkable record of six successful spot-kicks from six attempts. Casemiro went next to give United a brief advantage, but Fulham were just as clinical from 12 yards out.
Lindelof was the next player to step forward as he looked to repeat his heroics of the FA Cup semi-final win over Brighton two seasons ago, only to see his effort saved well by Leno. Joshua Zirkzee was the next player up and also saw his attempt saved by Leno, as Fulham prevailed 4-3 in the shootout to secure a quarter-final place.
In hindsight, it is easy to suggest Alejandro Garnacho or even Chido Obi should have taken a penalty instead of Lindelof, but after the game Amorim revealed why the Swedish defender stepped forward. Asked why he took a penalty before Garnacho and Zirkzee in the shootout, he said: "No. He was really confident to take a shot, he is training really well, scoring them in training. So it was an obvious choice."