Harry Maguire is congratulated by Nemanja Matic.

Harry Maguire's goal pledge comes off

Tuesday 18 February 2020 15:25

Harry Maguire made a bold prediction to Inside United while out in Spain last week, which quickly came off in our 2-0 victory at Chelsea.

The centre-back spoke to the official magazine while taking part in the training camp in Marbella and suggested he averages three or four goals per season from set-pieces.

Bruno Fernandes's corner allowed the England international to power in the clincher at Stamford Bridge and claim his first Premier League goal for the Reds.

Maguire: We need to back this up Video

Maguire: We need to back this up

The skipper Harry Maguire says this can be the start of our push towards success...

The skipper opened his account for United in the Emirates FA Cup victory at Tranmere Rovers last month, with a thunderous drive from distance, and feels there is more to come.

"My first goal [for the club] was a great feeling," he said. "I decided to hit it as hard as I could and it found the top corner. It’s something I’ve always had in my game and this season I’ve been disappointed with not getting a goal from a set-play, I’ve always averaged three or four from set-plays.

"Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had good chances, against Newcastle and West Ham, I should have scored. But it’s coming and I’m sure I’ll score soon and, hopefully, sooner rather than later."

Those words proved prophetic and Magurie feels the team's aerial prowess will continue to improve. Victor Lindelof may have missed the win in London due to an illness but the Swede is another who will aim to get on the scoresheet again, following his header against Aston Villa.

"It was a great header [by Victor]," recalled Maguire. "A great leap and great timing and I’d like to score one myself like that in the coming weeks.

"We’re not the tallest squad, we’ve lacked a bit of height and that’s probably a reason why we have struggled from defensive set-plays and haven’t scored anywhere near enough from attacking set-plays, so we need to make sure we’re a threat going forward and that we’re solid at the back when we come to defend set-plays. But definitely it was a great header from Vic and I’m sure we’ll get more from now until the end of the season."

90 in 20: Chelsea 0 United 2 Video

90 in 20: Chelsea 0 United 2

Set aside 20 minutes for the extended highlights, featuring two great headers, big VAR decisions and Ighalo's debut...

You can read the full in-depth interview with Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof in the next edition of Inside United, the official club magazine.

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