Amad has an astonishing story himself so it seemed right for him to seal victory (and then get sent off) for Manchester United against Liverpool in this FA Cup quarter-final at Old Trafford.
United ended Liverpool’s hopes of winning four trophies with a 4-3 victory after extra time and will have brought some relief to their manager Erik ten Hag.
After normal time ended 2-2 following a late equaliser from United winger Antony, Marcus Rashford scored to make up for an earlier glaring miss following Harvey Elliott’s extra-time strike for Liverpool.
Amad’s late finish, followed by a second yellow card for taking his shirt off while celebrating his goal, was the final moment of a ridiculous match.
United will face Coventry City in the semi-final and Manchester City will play Chelsea.
The Athletic’s James Pearce, Dan Sheldon and Mark Carey analyse all the action from Old Trafford.
Time to stop overlooking Amad?
Amad has finally had his moment in a United shirt after signing in October 2020 for a fee that, with add-ons, was worth £37.5million ($47.8m at today’s rates).
He arrived in January 2021 but was never given a chance, and found himself sent out on loan to Rangers and Sunderland. He did well at both clubs, winning the award for Sunderland’s young player of the season.
Even this season has been a struggle for Amad, who injured his knee in pre-season and was sidelined until December.
United fans have been questioning why Ten Hag hasn’t been playing him in recent weeks and after his cameo against Liverpool, it will be hard for the Dutchman to keep overlooking him.
Amad played with intensity when he replaced Raphael Varane in the 85th minute, constantly pressing Liverpool’s defenders and looking to make things happen.
He received a needless yellow card for blocking a Liverpool free kick and then a second yellow for taking his top off to celebrate, but that won’t get in the way of his winner in front of the Stretford End to send United into the FA Cup semi-final.
Dan Sheldon
How did Liverpool let it slip?
As Virgil van Dijk led his team-mates over to the away end after the final whistle, they looked as shell-shocked as the 9,000 Liverpool fans in front of them.
Liverpool’s hopes of winning four trophies are over. There will be no FA Cup final appearance as part of Klopp’s emotional farewell in May.
This was a classic but Liverpool only had themselves to blame for bowing out. The wounds were self-inflicted.
Game management let them down badly after leading 2-1 with three minutes left in normal time and then 3-2 with eight minutes to go in extra time. As can be seen from the graphic below, they dominated possession but allowed United to create high-quality goalscoring chances, reflected in their expected goals (xG) of 3.4.
They will be full of regrets — not least the array of opportunities wasted on the counter-attack in the second half when they really should have killed off the tie. Their wastefulness left the door open and United took full advantage.
Darwin Nunez gave the ball away cheaply in the build-up to Rashford’s equaliser and then United’s dramatic late winner came from Liverpool’s corner. They left themselves badly exposed and paid the price.
It was out of keeping with how Liverpool have performed this season. They must focus their efforts on targeting Premier League and Europa League glory to add to their Carabao Cup triumph.
James Pearce
Why did United attack down left?
From the opening minutes, United’s attacking intent was clear — target the left flank.
Rashford’s pace means they will always be a threat in wide areas, but United were creating overloads in the early stages, with Kobbie Mainoo supporting Rashford, and Alejandro Garnacho drifting over from the right wing to get in on the action himself.
With Mohamed Salah not doing enough to support his full-back defensively, United looked to repeatedly punish Liverpool — isolating Joe Gomez, dragging him across, and exposing the gaps opened…
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