Maguire books Man Utd a semi
● Manchester United moved into the FA Cup semifinals as Harry Maguire’s strike late in extra time clinched a 2-1 win over 10-man Norwich last night.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side had to work hard for their place in the last four as Todd Cantwell forced extra time by cancelling out Odion Ighalo’s opener at Carrow Road.
Norwich defender Timm Klose was sent off for hauling down Ighalo in the 89th minute and that eventually tipped the balance in United’s favour. They gradually wore Norwich down and England defender Maguire pounced to extend their unbeaten run to 14 games in all competitions.
United, who won their 12th and most recent FA Cup in 2016, are on course to reach the final for the second time in three years.
Solskjaer made eight changes as only Maguire, Luke Shaw and Bruno Fernandes survived from the midweek Premier League win against Sheffield United.
United’s stand-ins were out of sync for much of a first half that followed the pattern of many post-lockdown matches, both teams lacking energy and invention.
In a rare threat, Maguire had to stop Lukas Rupp’s shot with a block after Cantwell’s run opened up the visitors’ defence.
Solskjaer’s team finally awoke from their slumber after the interval and grabbed the lead in the 51st minute.
Luke Shaw’s cross was helped on by Juan
Mata and Ighalo sniffed out the chance, flicking an agile finish past Tim Krul.
The Nigerian has scored in each of his four United starts, making it five goals in 11 appearances since he arrived from Shanghai Shenhua in January.
Norwich were playing in their first FA Cup quarterfinal since 1992, but Canaries boss Daniel Farke had dampened the mood when he insisted they had no chance of winning the competition.
Despite Farke’s pessimism, Norwich nearly equalised when Ben Godfrey stretched to reach Alexander Tettey’s header from Emiliano Buendia’s free-kick.
It seemed certain Godfrey would score but instead the defender could only accidentally deflect the ball away from the United goal.
Norwich kept pressing and drew level in the 75th minute when Cantwell’s 20-yard strike swerved away from slow-to-react United keeper Sergio Romero.
Suddenly in the ascendency, Norwich almost won it in the final minutes when Buendia shot just past the far post. —