Manchester United beat Norwich City 2-1 at Carrow Road to advance to Wembley and the FA Cup Semi-Finals; but it wasn't really a top-notch performance from Ole Gunnar Solksjaer's in-form team. They did enjoy the lion's share of possession in the early-going; but only manged to go ahead after the interval thanks to some typically hap-hazard Norwich defending.
With two players drawn to the same ball; Bruno Fernandes' rather innocuous flick-up was pounced upon by Odion Ighalo; who managed to score unharassed past Tim Krul. At that point; United looked on course for a relatively comfortable win; until midway through the half when young prospect Todd Cantwell drilled in a speculative long-range shot that United were rather too slow in closing down.
At that juncture; it was in fact the home team who looked the more confident and likely; and it was only an imperious last-ditch challenge from substitute Brandon Williams that saved an almost-certain Norwich goal. And then the turning point came. Another slack piece of Norwich defending saw Ben Godfrey going needlessly on Fernandes; followed by a terrible piece of defending from experienced Timm Klose; who found himself the wrong side of Ighalo and had to pull him down; thus earning a red card in the process.
With the numerical advantage; United had even a further share of the possession; however, they looked a little uncertain how to use it and even looked a bit over-eager at times. Finally; just when the match looked like heading to penalties (which would certainly have favored Norwich); it was central defender Harry Maguire who popped up in the penalty area to smash home the winner after yet more tentative Norwich defending. It was heartbreak for Norwich; especially for goalkeeper Krul who had made several fine saves throughout the match.
No comments:
Post a Comment