Middlesbrough brought back the magic of the FA Cup after they knocked out Manchester United after dragging the game into extra time. United got the lead with Sancho but soon had themselves to blame after they wasted chances upon chances with Rashford, Ronaldo and Fernandes being the major culprits. The game went into penalties and Elanga missed the decisive spot-kick to give Middlesbrough the win.
It was too much pressure on the 19-year-old Elanga and the game shouldn't have gotten to penalties if United had done their job during the game. They were sloppy and paid the price for it as Middlesbrough advanced to the next round and in United's books, this is another sporting disaster because this is a game Manchester United should have won easily especially with the quality of the lineup selected to face the Championship side.
United came close to breaking the deadlock as early as the second minute after a miscommunication between the goalkeeper and his defence line led to the ball spilling over to Sancho who tried to score with a dinked effort but his effort was stopped by the crossbar. Bruno Fernandes couldn't keep the follow up down as he blazed it agonizingly high.
United continued their dominance and came close again in the 6th minute after Ronaldo tried to reproduce the volley he had when he scored against Juventus in Real Madrid colours but this time around, it lacked the power and the goalkeeper gathered it easily. It was a brilliant ball in from Shaw to find Ronaldo with the outside of his foot.
Manchester United continued their dominance as Paul Pogba was brought down inside the box. Who else to take it other than Ronaldo and he dragged his shot wide, shockingly, so much to the cheer from Middlesbrough fans. In the 23rd minute, Bruno Fernandes was found with a long lofted pass inside the box and his attempted one time volley shot flew over the bar with the linesman flag still down. If it had gone in, it would have been checked by the VAR.
United finally got the goal to reward their dominance in the 25th minute after he cleverly beat the offside trap and went for goal. His shot got deflected in from the left side of the box as the ball found the back of the net to give United the lead. 4 minutes after, Ronaldo failed to beat the goalkeeper from the same position as he was unable to pick the other end of the post from the left side of the box. Marcus Rashford scored a minute after but he was correctly ruled for offside. Manchester United didn't ease up on their dominance.
Middlesbrough came close to scoring after they flashed the ball across the face of the goal in the 33rd minute but Maguire was on hand to stop it. That attempt led to a counterattack from Manchester United as Fernandes played Ronaldo through on goal but Ronaldo wasted another golden chance as the goalkeeper stood his ground to deny him with his leg.
Rashford shockingly missed a chance in the 54th minute after Sancho was clever enough to beat his marker with pace and trickery. He picked out Rashford and with the goal at his mercy, Rashford missed. Ronaldo also wasted another chance in the 55th minute when Rashford set him up but his effort was only good for the side net, shockingly. He has been wasteful up to that point in the game. It was a clean chance and he blew it.
Middlesbrough had a chance of theirs in the 57th minute which took the brilliance of Henderson to stop Crooks who produced a curling effort aimed at the top right corner of the post but he managed to save it for a corner kick instead.
Middlesbrough who has had nothing working for them all game had a real moment in the 64th minute after Crooks bundled the ball into the back of the net to stun the Old Trafford faithful. United shouted for handball in the build-up after Watmore controlled the ball with his hand before picking out Crooks, the scorer but the referee gave the goal.
United showed they were unlucky in this game after Rashford was sent through on goal by Pogba in the 70th minute but his effort was saved by the goalkeeper. 2 minutes after, the goalkeeper made a bad call and Fernandes stole the ball. With the goal at his mercy, Fernandes still struck the base of the post, shocking.
Substitute, Elanga had two glittering chances to put United ahead with his headers but he missed both. One, in the 89th minute, as he flashed his header wide and the other in the 92nd minute which the goalkeeper saved comfortably.
The game went into extra time and United threw everything at the game despite coming close on several occasions but it wasn't meant to be. The goalkeeper stayed resilient within the sticks, not willing to let any ball past him. Henderson on the other end denied Middlesbrough late into the second half of extra time. What a timely save it was but penalties came and United lost 8-7 at Old Trafford, a day to Ronaldo's birthday and a day to remember another sporting disaster; the death of the Busby Babes. A win would have been welcome to celebrate these two events but rather they were treated to a shameful defeat.
Thank you for your time.
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