GARN'T BELIEVE IT
Man Utd’s freak goal to take lead against Brighton ruled out after Joshua Zirkzee caught out in bonkers offside
Fans could not believe what had happened
ALEJANDRO GARNACHO'S goal was ruled out thanks to a freak Joshua Zirkzee offside.
The Manchester United winger thought he had tapped in an easy finish to put the Red Devils in front against Brighton with 20 minutes to go at the Amex.
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However, the ball ricocheted off Zirkzee's knee ON the line - with the striker having already slid in and missing the initial pass across by Bruno Fernandes.
And so even though the ball was clearly going in, the goal was chalked off in bizarre fashion because the summer signing was ahead of Garnacho at the time of the shot.
Had Zirkzee made contact with the ball once the ball had fully crossed the line, the goal would have stood.
But the Dutchman could do nothing to prevent the inadvertent intervention.
Zirkzee - who scored the winner on his debut against Fulham last week - reacted immediately as if he knew he had messed up the Garnacho goal.
So when the Argentine wheeled away in celebration, his United team-mate got to his feet and stood perplexed and dejected inside the goal.
And fans quickly flooded social media with reaction.
One said: "You can't blame Joshua Zirkzee there. Every striker would stick his leg out there, it's intuition. He just got unlucky."
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Another wrote: "Such a shame for Garnacho. Can’t fault Zirkzee for his reaction."
A third joked: "Justice for Coventry," in reference to the controversial FA Cup semi-final finale as United survived thanks to a toe-nail VAR offside call.
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MANCHESTER UNITED suffered more misery on the seaside as they lost again at the Amex.
It was almost all so different for the Red Devils as, at 1-1, fans celebrated what they thought was a winner – only for the goal to be ruled out in a bonkers offside call.
And Joao Pedro pounced to snatch the three points for Brighton deep into added time.
Here’s how SunSport’s Lloyd Canfield rated United’s stars…
ANDRE ONANA – 4/10
Not convincing from a goalkeeper we know can perform with the best in this league.
Has been a good upgrade on Wan-Bissaka judging by his opening performances in a United shirt.
HARRY MAGUIRE – 4
Was caught ball watching for Danny Welbeck's opener, and was rendered useless after letting it run past him twice.
Improved in the second half with some crucial blocks and was decent in terms of building from the back, but his error may have cost his team three points.
LISANDRO MARTINEZ – 5
Not a particularly noticeable performance from 'The Butcher' in a positive or negative sense.
Suppose it was a solid showing but was also caught ball watching for the opening goal.
DIOGO DALOT – 7
Was unlucky not to have an assist in the first half, but played well and put the team on his back at times.
Made a crucial goal line block early on in the second half to deny Brighton a two-goal lead and played some good crosses throughout.
CASEMIRO – 6
Stepped into tackles well when required and is having something of a resurgence at the start of this season - doesn't look as off the pace as he did last campaign.
His final ball was disappointing at times, but overall a solid showing.
KOBBIE MAINOO – 7
Composure personified, Kobbie played like a midfielder well beyond his years.
Was always on hand to break up play, a la N'Golo Kante, but showed a calmness and ability on the half-turn which really puts him up there with the best in the league - a great performance let down by that of his teammates.
MASON MOUNT – 5
Didn't play badly in the first half, but also added nothing really going forward for this Man Utd team.
Hooked at half-time for the more threatening Joshua Zirkzee.
MARCUS RASHFORD – 6
Had a goal ruled out in the first half after he had persisted brilliantly to head home.
A little unlucky but it was still far from the finest Marcus Rashford performance we have seen, he looked a little low on confidence before being hooked for the more confident Garnacho.
AMAD DIALLO – 8
Had a great chance to open the scoring early on in the game as he arrived at the back post, but it wasn't quite at the right height for him.
The young winger clearly has bundles of ability, and bagged the equaliser with a fine cut inside and finish with his left foot.
Worth a note that after losing his mother it takes a hell of a man to even be out on that pitch at 22-years-old. Well played Amad, we are with you.
BRUNO FERNANDES – 7
Cut a frustrated figure up front for Man Utd in the first half before thinking he'd bagged an assist when Alejandro Garnacho tapped home, only for it to be ruled out by VAR.
Just wasn't his day today, but still created chances for his team and looked the most likely source of a winner for the Red Devils.
SUBS:
JOSHUA ZIRKZEE (MASON MOUNT, 45) – 4
His only real action of note in the game was denying his team the winning goal.
Alejandro Garnacho had done the hard work and was about to give Man Utd the lead, only for Zirkzee to slide in and see it ruled out for offside.
His mistake did display an eagerness to score, but it was an error which cost his side nonetheless.
ALEJANDRO GARNACHO (MARCUS RASHFORD, 65) – 6
Did his job well in replacing Marcus Rashford and adding the end product which was needed by Erik ten Hag, but was robbed of a goal by his teammate as aforementioned.
Looks a danger whenever he plays on that left hand side, but after the goal that never was he was well defended for the remaining minutes.
SCOTT MCTOMINAY (BRUNO FERNANDES, 79) – 5
Bought on as a target man once again to try and get the winner for United, he wasn't really provided with many opportunities in just over 10 minutes to really do that.
MATTHIJS DE LIGT (HARRY MAGUIRE, 79) – 5
Wasn't really given enough of a chance to show what he is all about, but it's minutes in the tank for the new man and he did what was asked of him after coming off the bench.
ANTONY (AMAD DIALLO, 90) – 5
In fairness to him, made a good run as soon as he entered the pitch and crossed well for Scott McTominay.
However, he wasn't given enough time to make any significant impact.
But a fair few want the offside rules to be changed because Zirkzee's accidental mishap had no advantage for the attacking team.
One explained: "It's the right decision but just feel common sense should be applied here. There's no impact on the outcome, the ball was going in the net, there's no defence, no goalkeeper unsighted. The destination had not changed."
A second typed: "That’s actually pretty stupid the rule should be changed to allow that as a goal especially as no player had a chance of stopping."
And it proved a costly touch from Zirkzee.
The incident happened at 1-1, with Amad Diallo's deflected strike cancelling out ex-United man Danny Welbeck's opener.
But in the fifth minute of injury time, Joao Pedro was given acres of space at the back post to head in a dramatic winner to snatch all three points.
Zirkzee was spotted talking to Ten Hag as they walked off the pitch after full-time, seemingly explaining what happened.
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