Manchester United lost to Middlesbrough in the 4th round of the FA Cup. The regulation time and the extra time ended 1-1 and the match headed to penalties. The first 10 penalties ended up in the back of the net with clinical technique displayed by the players. Anthony Elanga, the latest talent to come through Carrington crumbled under pressure and skied his penalty to decide the match in favor of Middlesbrough.
Manchester United vs Middlesbrough Match Report :
Manchester United started the game on a high and created several chances. Paul Pogba, Luke Shaw, and Jadon Sancho all made a return to the team and linked up on the left side fluently. Luke Shaw’s pass found Pogba in a dangerous area and the latter did enough to draw up a foul in the box to win a penalty in the 20th minute.
Birthday boy, Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up to take the penalty and to everyone’s shock missed the penalty to put United ahead. 5 minutes later Jadon Sancho put United ahead through a deflection after being found by Fernandes. This was Sancho’s first goal at the Theatre of Dreams. United were in cruise control of the first half and finished the first half 1-0.
Second Half :
There was a lot of controversy in the second half surrounding Middlesbrough’s equalizer. Duncan Watmore, the assist provider clearly handled the ball in the build-up. However, the referee Anthony Taylor deemed the handball to be accidental. Middlesbrough equalized via Matt Crooks and set up an interesting end to the tie.
United created several chances in the next 25 minutes but failed to find the back of the net. It was all downhill for United after regulation time. The players looked tired and lost the hunger to win the ball. Dean Henderson kept United in the game after making a crucial save in the dying embers.
The match headed into penalties and the odds were against United who have never won a penalty shoot-out in the FA Cup. Elanga missed the decisive penalty to seal United’s defeat and exit from the FA Cup. United had themselves to blame for the defeat. The players lacked the cutting edge to find the back of the net.
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