It was far from pretty, but Manchester United got the job done against Copenhagen tonight as a Harry Maguire goal in the second half was enough to secure a 1-0 victory in their Champions League group stage clash.
Coming into the game needing a victory to spark their European campaign into life, the home team did not play like a side who were in desperate need of a result at Old Trafford. They were incredibly poor in the first half, creating no chances of note and playing with a remarkable lack of urgency.
Outside of a couple of chances on the counterattack, the second half did not start any better for Erik ten Hag's side.
However, a goal from an unlikely source would prove to be the key moment in the fixture.
Harry Maguire comes up BIG for Man Utd 🏴💥#UCL pic.twitter.com/zu1KQ2HCgm
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 24, 2023
That header from Harry Maguire sparked the team into life, with Manchester United always looked like the likely winners from that point onwards. Of course, they would still need a dramatic penalty save from Andre Onana deep into stoppage time in order to get over the line.
In the end, they would get the three pointed they needed to finally get rolling in this season's Champions League.
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Harry Maguire scores Man United winner after Paul Scholes criticism
Harry Maguire has been a major subject of ridicule in recent times, although this is the second successive game that he has made a telling contribution for Manchester United. Along with this goal, he was also named as man-of-the-match in their victory over Sheffield United at the weekend.
In saying that, he was not without error in this game.
Speaking on TNT Sports at halftime, Paul Scholes hammered the England defender for a passage of play where he failed to intervene and stop a Copenhagen counterattack, with his meek effort at a tackle ultimately resulting in a good chance at the other end.
Straight away there's a lack of awareness from Amrabat, not really knowing where he is. Maguire makes a mistake.
This is where you talk about experience with Maguire, he just needs to kit that into the stands. He exposes himself running backwards, we know it's not his strength.
It was a half chance from the no.9 who hits the post, there's a scramble away. Maguire there, he's got to do better. He can't afford to put himself in that position. Just put the ball into the stand!
As soon as he makes that error he exposes himself to what he's not good at and his weakness, which is running back. He looks slow there running back.
In fairness to Harry Maguire, he bounced back well from that point onwards.
Scholes would then go on to praise him for his resilience after the game.
They're two characters who have had a bit of stick (Onana & Maguire), Harry Maguire especially. To come up with the winning goal, it was a great moment for Manchester United.
Hopefully that gives him the boost that he needs.
Harry Maguire will be hoping that the last couple of games can act as a springboard towards him getting his Manchester United career back on track.
From the team's perspective, they know that they will still need to make major improvements moving forward if they are to have the type of season that they were aiming for in 2023/24.
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