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Manchester United advanced to the semi-final of the FA Cup following their 4-3 dramatic win against Liverpool at Old Trafford.
In what will undoubtedly go down as a classic, United beat their bitter rivals and dumped them out of the competition in stunning style.
The Red Devils took the lead just 10 minutes in through Scott McTominay, who reacted the quickest to a spilt save from the Liverpool goalkeeper to tap the ball into the back of the net.
Liverpool clawed their way back and took the lead after strikes from Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah.
With three minutes of normal time left, Antony gave United a lifeline as he spun the rival defenders to beat Kelleher from inside the box.
Harvey Elliott restored Liverpool’s advantage just before half-time in extra time but Marcus Rashford cancelled out his goal. It looked like the two sides would head into a penalty shootout but Amad Diallo had other ideas. The Ivorian expertly found the bottom-right corner in the dying embers of proceedings to seal the win for United.
Erik ten Hag’s men had 41% possession to Liverpool’s 59% share of the ball. United had 28 total cracks at goal, with 11 of these being on target. In comparison, the Merseysiders had 28 total shots with 11 requiring Andre Onana to intervene.
United put together 512 passes with a pass accuracy of 75%.
Liverpool strung 717 passes with a success rate of 85%.
While the goalscorers will undoubtedly get most of the plaudits, it was Garnacho who was the biggest threat to Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Garnacho never stopped running and fearless played throughout the 120 minutes including added time. He was a constant threat to the backside of the Liverpool defenders, who found it extremely hard to contend with him.
It was fitting that Garnacho delivered the assist for Amad’s all-important winning goal.
During the time he was on the pitch, the Argentine completed 20 passes and managed a pass accuracy of 71%.
He registered six shots.
Garnacho created five chances and as many crosses to his name.
The 19-year-old of course grabbed an assist.
Garnacho’s game by numbers vs. Liverpool:
20 passes completed
6 shots
5 chances created
5 crosses
1 assist100 million pound player. 💎💎💎 pic.twitter.com/z8TgbH1yRq
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) March 17, 2024
The Carrington academy graduate also had 53 touches of the ball. He tried to ping two long balls and found his intended target on all two occasions.
(Additional stats obtained from Sofascore)
This season, Garnacho has massively stepped up and on current trajectory, there’s no reason why he can’t have a very successful United career and become one of the club’s most important players going forward.
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