Manchester United are through to the final 16 in the FA Cup after beating Leicester City at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils came from behind to beat Leicester in the FA Cup after Bobby De Cordova-Reid gave the visitors a lead just before half-time.
Joshua Zirkzee was impressive after coming off the bench in the second half, and United’s £36m summer signing drew Ruben Amorim’s side level.
Just as it looked as though both sides would be headed for extra-time, Harry Maguire scored a controversial winner in injury time. Replays of the goal showed that it would have been ruled out for offside if VAR was in use.
United will now play Fulham in the fifth round, with the cup clash scheduled for the beginning of March at Old Trafford.
Harry Maguire of Manchester United celebrates scoring his team's second goal with team mates Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund during the Emirates ...
Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images
FA Cup confirm VAR changes after Harry Maguire controversy
Despite beating Leicester, Amorim kept players at Old Trafford to train after the match was finished after the head coach was underwhelmed by the performance.
After the full-time whistle, Amorim admitted United were lucky as VAR would have cancelled the Fergie-time winner.
VAR was United’s saving grace on the night, but they won’t have that same privilege for the rest of the tournament as the FA have confirmed it will be used for the remaining matches.
MORE UNITED STORIES
Video Assistant Referees (VAR) will be active across all eight ties in the Fifth Round of the 2024-25 Emirates FA Cup.
New Semi-Automated Offside Technology will also be used live for the first time in competitive English football matches.
— Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) February 13, 2025
View Tweet
As well as VAR, the FA have announced that new semi-automated offside technology will also be used live for the first time in English football.
The new tech aims to produce more efficient virtual offside lines which will speed up decisions. If it was in use against Leicester, United would have had to face extra time.
United fans spotted that Van Nistelrooy did not celebrate Leicester’s goal against his former club, but the Foxes boss was left fuming after the full-time whistle.
In his post-match comments, Van Nistelrooy said: ““We are not defeated in Fergie time, we are defeated in offside time.”
Frankly, Amorim agreed with the man he kicked out of United’s coaching staff, but argued that his side deserve a bit of luck.
As quoted by The Mirror, Amorim said: “With VAR it’s not a goal. I think it’s important to have VAR because it’s fair for the game. It’s hard to lose like that with an offside play. But we deserve a little bit of luck.”
Amorim’s wish for VAR to be involved has been granted.