Manchester United needed some luck to knock out Leicester City from the FA Cup, their 2-1 win coming courtesy of a late Harry Maguire goal that was offside.
Ruud van Nistelrooy was not a happy man after the game, saying that his team had lost in “offside time”, none of that “Fergie time” narrative.
Van Nistelrooy’s return to Old Trafford had a lot of layers to it, with the Dutchman’s request to stay at the club under Ruben Amorim denied by the Man Utd manager.
With all that setting the narrative to a spicy clash, one eye was on how both the managers behaved during the game, and what Van Nistelrooy did after Leicester scored spoke volumes.
Ruud van Nistelrooy vs Man Utd
Leicester would have come to Old Trafford fancying their chances considering United’s atrocious home form and their dream script was being written.
The Foxes had taken a shock (is it a shock anymore?) lead just before half-time to leave Ruben Amorim with more questions than answers heading into the break.
United would go on to turn it around courtesy of Alejandro Garnacho’s imperious display as a sub but what Van Nistelrooy did after Leicester’s opener was interesting.
The prospect of getting his first win at Old Trafford was put to the side and the Dutchman elected to bow his head down and walk away respectfully.
It was the managerial equivalent of a player not celebrating a goal against the club he has much respect for, something that will endear him further to Man Utd fans, if that was even possible!
Ruben Amorim left with more questions than answers
It is common knowledge that Amorim’s project at United is a long one but even through that lens, there was a feeling that this was a game he just couldn’t lose.
Van Nistelrooy had United flying in his four games as interim manager so Amorim’s team simply couldn’t lose to his team fighting relegation in the league.
Ultimately, that fate was avoided but the performance would have left him with more questions than answers, so turgid and underwhelming it was.
For now, he’ll take cup progression with a win, regardless of the manner of it, but he would soon want a situation where Van Nistelrooy’s four-game tenure isn’t compared to his long-term project.
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