Manchester United ensured that they booked a place at Wembley for the FA Cup semi-finals after they left Carrow Road with a 2-1 win.
Odion Ighalo’s improvised opener was cancelled out by a stunning Todd Cantwell equaliser but it was United who would come out on top after Harry Maguire bundled in the second just minutes before the clock reached 120 minutes.
Sergio Romero: 6
Didn’t have much to do apart from the goal and maybe he could’ve done better. But that’s pushing it.
Diogo Dalot: 6
First game since football returned for the right-back and it was fairly comfortable defensively. Dalot struggled offensively and offered very little.
Eric Bailly: 6
Nothing too spectacular but certainly an okay performance from the Ivorian.
Harry Maguire: 7
Comfortable for large parts of the game defensively. A little less involved going forward against the low Norwich block than expected. He must have thought that it was going to penalties when his header was superbly saved by Tim Krul but it proved that Maguire would have the final say when he tackled home United’s second.
Luke Shaw: 5
Never looked like he wanted to have the ball to have a go. Stopped with the ball more times than not and ultimately wasn’t very effective down his flank.
Scott McTominay: 5
Fresh off signing a new contract, McTominay returned to the starting eleven after dropping to the bench against Sheffield United. Sloppy passing at times and didn’t find it easy to break through Norwich’s low block.
Fred: 4
Incredibly sloppy on the ball and his touch seemed off. Although we’re just three games in, Fred is not making a good case for keeping his spot in midfield.
Juan Mata: 5
Very slow on the ball and attacks often fizzled out with Mata on the ball. Not a good first start for him.
Bruno Fernandes: 6
One of his rougher outings since joining United but a static first-half looked like it was just that until the ball was fed to Bruno Fernandes. If anything was to happen, it would’ve been through the Portuguese midfielder who was optimistic – perhaps a bit too much.
His work-rate and determination was epitomized by a 70-yard sprint just minutes before the end of extra-time. Probably didn’t expect to play 120 minutes and with over 290 minutes in the bank in just 8 days, we might see Solskjær give Fernandes a rest against Brighton.
Jesse Lingard: 5
Not his worst performance, not at all, but Lingard still struggled to make anything happen. The teams lack of movement, in the first half especially, allowed Norwich to comfortably put two men on Lingard.
Luke Shaw moved centrally to defend quite a few attacks which forced Lingard to operate in a rather uncomfortable role as a makeshift left-back but tracked back well.
Odion Ighalo: 7
Kept up his streak of scoring in every single game he has started – his second-half opener was his 5th in his 4th start. Also forced the red card towards the end of normal time. Brilliant finish as well.
Bench:
Matic: 7
Solid cameo, first in midfield and then as a centre-back when Bailly came off. His good technique and passing helped pin Norwich down to no farther up than their own penalty area.
Pogba: 8
It seems like United morph into a new team every time Pogba is introduced to the pitch. The opponents respect for Pogba is obvious and his precision-point passing is more or less what allowed United to walk away with a trip to Wembley. Brilliant cameo.
Greenwood: 6
Did what is usually expected on the right-hand side and might’ve scored if a few touches fell his way. Good showing.
Rashford: 6
Most of United’s play came through the left-hand side and the persistence grew when Lingard was replaced by Rashford. Had a few scuffed shots and a few more saved by Krul. He’ll be looking to break his post-corona goalscoring duck soon.
Williams: 7
It could’ve been so much different if it wasn’t for Brandon Williams. United, sleeping at the back, allowed Hernandez through on goal after 85 minutes and it looked like the German was going to put Norwich 2-1 up.
While all other United defenders were counting sheep, Williams tracked his man and recovered the ball with a fantastic last-ditch tackle.
Great intensity throughout and will be pushing for a start.
Martial: 6
Good touches here and there but wasn’t able to stamp his authority on the game.
Unused subs: De Gea, Fosu-Mensah, Pereira
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