Release date: Sunday, June 28, 2020, 9:28 am
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer quickly gave Harry Maguire a glowing rating after the Manchester United captain’s extension winner booked a seat in the FA Cup semi-finals in Norwich.
United had to dig deep into the bottom of the Premier League on Carrow Road. Odion Ighalo’s fifth goal in four starts got United on the line, but Todd Cantwell equalized.
Timm Klose was dismissed in the 89th minute because of the fall of Ighalo. With Tim Krul, who delivers some heroics in extra time, Maguire reacted fastest to head home in the 118th minute.
Maguire was the subject of some strong criticism from Roy Keane 1-1 draw last week in Tottenham.
But after his winner, Solskjaer could not have been more proud of the middle half.
United’s manager highlighted his leadership, head and attack skills and said, “Harry has been great since he came to the club. His leadership skills can be seen. He helped us build it up.
“Today I think he won every header and challenge, so I’m very happy with Harry.”
Maguire’s close-up action on death is his second goal in competition this season. Already in January he scored his first goal against Tranmere with a 25 yard rammer.
Solskjaer added: “The two gates are two different gates and maybe two gates that you don’t expect from him: one from 30 meters in the upper corner and then the gate of a poacher.”
United was the first team to seal their place in the last four games and is only two wins from their first cup under Solskjaer.
But while they extended their unbeaten sequence to 14 games in all competitions, Maguire knows that they have to improve considerably.
“It would mean anything (to win the FA Cup),” Maguire said of the BBC. “I joined this club to win trophies. We are in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, it is a great tournament and we will be looking forward to it.
“Hopefully when the semifinals come and whoever we are drawn against, we will play a lot better than tonight. It was a difficult game and we worked hard on it. “
Solskja praise for Ighalo
Solskjaer also had warm words for Ighalo. The Nigerian scored at least once in every United game he started.
The Norwegian said: “Odion knows how much we value him in the locker room and on the field.
“He is a goal scorer and a poacher. Odion is strong and we can play the ball into him as we did with the winning goal.
“He plays well and that gives me the opportunity to switch with Marcus (Rashford), Anthony (Martial) and Mason (Greenwood). It’s good that they can rest and be fresh for every game. “
