Interim coach Ralf Rangnick suggested to Scott McTominay that he one day don the Manchester United captain’s armband after the midfielder led his team to FA Cup third round victory over Aston Villa on Monday.
The Scottish international scored the only goal of the game at Old Trafford and the second in the last three games with a powerful header that eluded Emiliano MartÃnez eight minutes later. United won 1-0 and advanced to the fourth round. from the competition
Villa then had the ball at the net twice in the second half, but saw both attempts disallowed. The two teams will meet again in the Premier League this weekend.
What did Rangnick say about McTominay?
“He’s an academy kid, his energy is amazing,” Rangnick told BBC Sport when asked about the United midfielder. “Now he’s also starting to score goals and he also has some leadership skills. I wouldn’t be surprised if in a couple of years he was the captain of this team.”
McTominay had also done his part in his previous win, providing a spectacular opening goal in his 3-1 win over Burnley in late December. He was named Man of the Party for FotMob with an 8.8 valuation, starting four shots, three of them on goal, in addition to contributing three innings, two aerial duels and five ball recoveries.
His goal came off a header from a spectacular cross from Fred, who sent a curly ball into the box from a long distance outside the upper right corner of the box. The midfielder duo has been dubbed “McFred” by Manchester United faithful, and the combination was important in advancing United to the fourth round of the FA Cup.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEh-17LAvZk
Rangnick calls Dea Gea ‘outstanding’
Rangnick also had warm words for goalkeeper David de Gea, who held Villa at bay at the end with a series of good saves.
“We have to turn the team into a clean sheet team and that was another today, but David de Gea stood out for me again today,” he added. “I would have liked it to have fewer saves in total, I think we had four or five shots on goal, but we can still improve even in that area.”
De Gea made four saves, including the biggest of the night off a shot from Matty Cash that produced a diving effort from the Spaniard in a bubbling effort from the right.
However, the Red Devils were saved from embarrassment by a critical VAR decision that resulted in a goal from Aston Villa forward Danny Ings disallowed thanks to a rare offside decision against Jacob Ramsey.