Forget Heaven: New footage exposes unforgivable Harry Maguire error for first Hull goal | OneFootball

Harry Maguire will want to quickly forget his performance for Manchester United in their Premier League opener against Hull City on Saturday afternoon.

The England international proved mostly ineffective against the ball for the Red Devils, as they succumbed to two goals in the first half.

And now fresh footage has surfaced indicating that the veteran centre-half should be held equally culpable as Ayden Heaven for the hosts’ opening goal.

Harry Maguire caught ball-watching for Semi Ajayi goal

If we cast our minds back to Hull City’s first goal in the first half, we rightly pointed out Heaven’s lapse in concentration at the back post that allowed Oli McBurnie to fire an effort at Senne Lammens.

The Belgian shotstopper parried the effort but the ball fell nicely for Semi Ajayi to take first blood in East Yorkshire.

However, footage shared on X (formerly Twitter) by @KalshiEPL (showcasing video from beIN Sports) clearly shows that Harry Maguire badly let down Michael Carrick after the initial parry.

The former Leicester City man can be seen initially doing his job and closely marking goalscorer Ajayi. But fast forward to the ball hitting the post and, for some inexplicable reason, the 33-year-old centre-half decides to let go of the Hull City star (apparently without realising the man he’s still holding on to is teammate Bryan Mbeumo), who steps into space to tap in perhaps the easiest goal of his career.

Maguire has to set the example for Heaven

Mistakes happen, it’s fine. But there’s absolutely no excuse for a veteran operator in Harry Maguire to be not only losing his mark but also grappling with a teammate during a set-piece situation.

Manchester United can account for lapses in concentration from a very young footballer in Ayden Heaven, but his teammate should know better. He should be able to keep a better eye on what’s happening inside the 18-yard-box and help cover for his teammate’s comparative inexperience.

How disappointing it must be for Michael Carrick to see his starting centre-back partnership make consecutive (and entirely avoidable) mistakes leading to the hosts scoring from a corner kick.

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