Man Utd 1 – 0 Copenhagen: Emotional night at Manchester United as Maguire scores and Onana saves

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Manchester United saved a night of disgrace at Old Trafford during their match against Copenhagen, which started with a memorial moment for their recently deceased icon, Sir Bobby Charlton.

If there were any two that were expected to be the heroes and save the day, they naturally were not ridiculed: English defender Harry Maguire and much-discussed Cameroonian keeper Audrey Onana.

Little would coach Erik Ten Hag have known that his choice to include Harry Maguire in the match would turn out to be a very wise one, as Maguire’s goal became the only goal scored during the match after a strangling VAR check.

Maguire has neither been a beloved for club nor country lately after his wing became so porous that he was usually benched by his club, but coach Gareth Southgate, England’s first team coach, made a risky decision to include the man whose club did not trust to man a corner of their defence in the English team.

This decision did not pass without hails of physical and virtual backlash, though, as more people criticised the choice than favoured it. Things became more heated for poor Gareth Southgate when the player’s mistakes during matches had a lot of people wondering vocally why he insisted on allowing Maguire to continue doing such bad things to his country when he knew fully well that the player was then mostly a bench warmer at Old Trafford. Stubborn Southgate defended his decision in those days, but things were just about to get hotter for both men.

English goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale pointed out why England’s coach decided to use players like Maguire, whose clubs usually left among the reserves, saying that the coach liked working with players whom he had worked with before. Ramsdale revealed this while discussing his own case at Arsenal, where coach Mikel Arteta continually swaps between him and loan-keeper David Raya.

Aaron Ramsdale understood that not being trusted by his own club was a fat blow to his opportunity to feature for his country both at friendlies, World Cup qualifiers, and the FIFA World Cup. He hoped Gareth Southgate would offer him the same chance given to the likes of Harry Maguire. But Maguire did not have to publicly ask for this chance, nor did he not use it well.

Though it was a hard way that led to Harry Maguire’s present improving performance, many would agree the way was made unnecessarily so in some aspects, one of which was being booed by English fans at a friendly match. The sturdiness of will, persistence, and focus Maguire displayed in the face of the destructive winds are the most admirable things that took place at the peak of the excessive backlash.

His mother even had to fly to her son’s rescue in a social media post where she said that the treatment her son was getting was horrible and should not be passed through by anyone, while admitting that the situation was then bigger than football matters.

How Maguire rose from the ashes like a phoenix and was able to keep playing football will remain a point to think about. He recently won a Man of the Match and has presently given Manchester United a victory one could call a peace offering.

On the other hand, Onana’s great save After a penalty kick was well managed by the underperforming goalkeeper, the atmosphere at Old Trafford erupted in thunderous celebration. Who would blame fans and officials of the Red Devils after they must have given up hope because they knew how their keeper would perform? Just like Maguire, Onana managed the pressure that was obviously upon him well and delivered a wonderful save that will be talked about for a while.