Manchester United midfielder Casemiro has revealed that teammate Harry Maguire played while injured during their FA Cup semi-final clash against Coventry City.
United produced a dominant first-half performance that saw them head into the break two goals up. Just 15 minutes after the interval, Bruno Fernandes slotted in the third for United and it seemed like the team had comfortably booked their place in the final to face Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. However, Coventry fought back and produced an incredible comeback with 20 minutes of regular time left on the clock.
Mark Robins’ men were determined and took full advantage of the Red Devils’ capitulation to restore parity and force the game into extra time. They almost won it at the death when they found the back of the net in the 121st minute but were thwarted by VAR, who ruled out the goal due to an offside in the build-up.
Fortunately, United prevailed in the ensuing penalty shootout despite Casemiro missing the opening strike. Amidst United’s injury crisis in the defensive department, Casemiro was forced to play at centre-back alongside Maguire. Before the team crumbled in the face of adversity, the two were very solid and neutralized whatever threat Coventry possessed. There were doubts about Maguire’s fitness after it came out that he played large parts of the previous game against Bournemouth through the pain barrier.
However, the England international worked hard and ensured he was available to Ten Hag for selection. In addition to scoring United’s second of the match at Wembley, Maguire also won 100% of his tackles, won 100% of his ground duels and came out on top in five of the eight aerial duels he delved into. Casemiro spoke to TNT Sports and divulged that the former Leicester City man was not fully fit and sacrificed himself for the team.
The Brazil international remarked, “Today I played as a defender. We have six defenders. H [Harry Maguire] was injured. He played injured this game. Since the beginning [of the game] he was injured. He played injured in the last match. I played as a central defender. I don’t know how many injuries we have from different players. I think it can never be an excuse for such a big team with so many players. But it ends up hurting.” Casemiro explained that United panicked during their tense meeting with Coventry.
“It’s hard to explain. It’s a bit like our team this season. Very high and low in the same game. I’d say 70, 75 minutes, it was a calm game, a controlled game. Then a team in panic. I think it’s always the team. It’s not one or two players, a team panic. We lost control of the game. It’s very hard to have these highs and lows.” Up next for United is Premier League strugglers Sheffield United at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
