“We didn’t lose in Fergie time; we lost in offside time”- Ruud Van Nistelrooy left frustrated after fourth round exit

Leicester City manager Ruud Van Nistelrooy was disgusted to see his side fall to Manchester United in their FA Cup fourth round match due to an offside goal that was deemed legal from former Fox, Harry Maguire in the dying embers of the clash at Old Trafford.

It was only three months ago that Van Nistelrooy was sat in the home dugout at Old Trafford, but after Ruben Amorim was appointed, he decided that he would “not put Ruud in front of his guys” but also would not “put a guy like Ruud, a legend of this club, in the end of the hierarchy in the staff” Amorim told reporters ahead of the match.

What happened during the match?

As the game got underway, Manchester United fans were hopeful that due to the struggling form of their opponents who came into this game with only one win from their last nine Premier League games, they would start the game comfortably on home turf. This would mot turn out to be the case as Leicester would be more in control during the first half, with Manchester United not even managing a shot on target.

Leicester City took complete advantage of United’s slow start, With winger El Khannouss finding Wilfred Ndidi on the penalty spot who struck the ball straight into the Manchester United goalkeeper and Bobby Cordova-Reid got on the end of the rebound and put his team up right before the half time break.

⚽️ Goal by Bobby De Cordova-Reid

🔴 Man United 0-1 Leicester 🔵#FACup #EmiratesFACup #MUNLEI pic.twitter.com/ly4Wf6MKEO

— Leo 💎 (@prayforleonard) February 7, 2025

The second half began and Manchester need fans were puzzled as Amorim decided to sub off debutant Patrick Dorgu for Alejandro Garnacho. Dorgu, who was recently acquired by Manchester United from Lecce for £30 million in the recent transfer window, has been praised by fans for having an incredible start to his time at the Red Devils due to his directness going forward and his hunger to get the ball back.

Leicester remained in control but United started to find their footing and through Garnacho down the left hand side, they were building more dangerous chances and finally they took one. Four minutes after coming off the subs bench, Joshua Zirkzee found the ball at his feet and an open net in front of him off a rebound and calmly tucked the ball away for his fifth goal of the season.

The game whittled down and Manchester United were piling on the pressure and then a beautifully hit delivery from Bruno Fernandes was met by Harry Maguire at the back post and with almost the last kick of the game, Manchester United had booked their ticket into the next round.

However it was not a goal that was met without controversy as the footballing world were surprised the goal stood as it was quite clear that Harry Maguire was stood in an offside position, with even his own manager Ruben Amorim admitting after the game it was offside. The linesman was lined up perfectly with Harry Maguire so would have had a perfect view, yet still the flag was not raised.

🚨🚨Michael Salisbury's assistant referee gifted Manchester United a free pass to the fifth round of the FA Cup.

❌Maguire was a meter offside in United's winner in the 93rd minute, but the goal was not disallowed.

⚠️The 4th round FA Cup fixtures are being played without VAR. pic.twitter.com/BaOmm3oc7l

— Football Offsides (@FutOffsides) February 7, 2025

Why did it happen?

Many fans were quick to question why the goal was not reviewed for VAR, and this is due to the rule input by the FA to say it was agreed that the use of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) was not to be until the fifth round and onwards until the final. The official FA Website decreed “This decision ensures that there is consistent refereeing approach for all clubs taking part” as previous competitions saw VAR used at Premier League stadiums regardless of the round.

Since its founding back in 2016, VAR has been the topic of many arguments with a countless number of fans against its use as it has created more problems than solutions with some referees going to VAR and still making the wrong decision (Luis Diaz goal vs Tottenham).

But now it seems the shoe is on the other foot and a lack of VAR is now the problem as Leicester fans and most of the footballing universe agree that Leicester should not have been knocked out of the FA Cup after the performance they displayed at Old Trafford.

Rubbish... England still doing no VAR in FA Cup and other Cup games... the logic behind that nonsense I still don't understand. Leicester City just robbed...very easy for ref or linesman to sell out in Cup games

— Bigdawg (@avndon_) February 7, 2025

With this win under their belt, Manchester United will wait to see who they will be facing in the next round while Leicester can turn their focus back to the league and ensure they can return to winning ways and climb out of the relegation zone