Manchester United captain, Harry Maguire scored his first Premier League goal of the 2019/20 season, and it couldn’t have come against a better opponent than Chelsea. A game, which was rather marred by VAR controversies, saw United thumping Chelsea 2-0, and the win rightly brought the Devils back in the race of top-four finish.
Ahead of United’s visit to Stamford Bridge, Maguire, whose only goal for United this season came against Tranmere Rovers in the FA Cup, was so confident that he literally explained his brother, Laurence Maguire, how he’d score his goal.
The boy said he would score tonight 😂🙌🏻@HarryMaguire93 🔴⚪️⚫️ pic.twitter.com/yEtc0PesOr
— Laurence Maguire (@_lozmaguire) February 17, 2020
Maguire, as he explained in the chat, lost his marker in the 66th minute and rose highest to connect with Bruno Fernandes’ delicious in-swinging corner to make it 2-0 for his team.
Personally, for Maguire, it was a mixed outing, to say the least, as he wouldn’t have been on the field in the first-half itself. The England international, after clearing the ball in the opening period, went on the ground and striker Michy Batshuayi followed, the centre-back stretched his leg to catch the Belgian on his groin.
When a FIFA referee furnished with multiple replays of a player kicking an opponent in the testicles does not intervene to advise disciplinary action what is the point of having VAR? 🤷🏻♂️#CHEMUN pic.twitter.com/9cpRA4qJWz
— Duncan Castles (@DuncanCastles) February 18, 2020
Referee did advice VAR for aggressive play, but the decision came in United’s way. For Chelsea, they started the game brightly, but eventually faded from the equation. After conceding first, they thought they had pulled one back after Kurt Zouma slotted home with a neat finish, but replays showed Cesar Azpilicueta had pushed Brandon Williams at the near post during the buildup of the goal.
As the game approached its final 15 minutes, substitute Olivier Giroud put the ball into the net, but VAR was called into action again and the Frenchman’s effort was ruled offside.
