Jadon Sancho sends message to Manchester United fans after FA Cup loss
For all of the doom and gloom surrounding Manchester United’s devastating FA Cup exit, Jadon Sancho’s eye-catching performance was one of the very few positives.
The former Borussia Dortmund nearly scored two minutes into last night’s FA Cup tie, but his chipped effort came back off the bar.
That early contribution seemingly gave United’s number 25 a spring in his step and the confidence to go and impose himself on the game.
He broke the deadlock in the 25th minute with a deflected left-footed finish into the bottom corner.
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The winger has posted on Twitter about last night’s result and leapt to the defence of his teammate Anthony Elanga who missed the crucial penalty.
With Paul Pogba back in the United side for the first time since November, it was no coincidence that the Frenchman’s return played a contributing factor in both Sancho and Marcus Rashford constantly making runs in-behind the Middlesbrough defence.
It was Rashford not Sancho who was deployed on the right-hand side, and the pair both looked a threat.
For all of the pain, frustration, anger and disappointment surrounding our exit to the Championship side, we should have been out of sight with the number of guilt edge chances that were squandered.
Ralf Rangnick unleashed Pogba, Bruno Fernandes, Rashford, Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo in an attacking starting line-up.
It was the first time the quintet have started a game together this season.
With Anthony Martial, Amad Diallo and Donny van de Beek leaving the club on last month, Jesse Lingard and the club at loggerheads after his exit was blocked and Mason Greenwood not being considered for selection, Sancho has a huge opportunity to secure a place in Rangnick’s starting line-up.
After missing the last two Premier League games due to a family bereavement, Sancho’s first goal at Old Trafford will hopefully prove the catalyst in igniting his Manchester United career.
Rangnick allayed any injury concerns surrounding Sancho after the winger was seen clutching his hamstring area.
“Jadon didn’t get a knock,” clarified Rangnick in a post-match interview with MUTV.
“He was just feeling tired.”
The £73m signing (BBC Sport) had a swagger about his play last night and was running at the Boro backline and showing glimpses of the vision he possesses when picking out Rashford.
After failing to kick on from the back-to-back goals he scored under caretaker manager Michael Carrick in November, Manchester United fans will hope that Sancho can build on his standout performance against Chris Wilder’s side, and it doesn’t prove to be another false dawn.
The Reds have to respond against Burnley on Tuesday night, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a confident Jadon Sancho use last night’s display as the springboard to finally announce himself as the Manchester United player, we hoped we were signing in the summer.
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