England beat Albania 5-0 in a match where the result was never in doubt as soon as the referee blew the starting whistle. Harry Maguire broke the deadlock in the ninth minute before Harry Kane’s hat trick and Jordan Henderson’s composed finish saw England gain an unassailable 5-0 lead at half-time.
Harry Maguire’s knee slide celebration, during which he put his fingers to his ears, drew an immense amount of criticism by fans and critics alike. Ex-Manchester United captain Roy Keane dubbed the act as “embarrassing”.
“I think he puts his hands to his ears like he’s shut the critics up, but I think that’s embarrassing,”
the 50-year-old said.
United has been on a torrid run of form, gaining just four points from the last five Premier League matches. During that time, they have lost to bitter rivals Liverpool (5-0) and Manchester City (2-0). They’ve also been knocked out of the Carabao Cup, and their UCL form hasn’t been assuring either
The major reason for the poor performances has been the leaky defence, which captain Harry Maguire leads. He has conceded 23 goals in his last 13 matches, which is why he has been receiving a lot of flak recently.
After the match, Maguire stressed the fact that his celebration wasn’t aimed at anyone in particular.
“The celebration was a knee slide; it just came naturally to me. It wasn’t directed at anyone,”
the centre-back said.
Despite keeping a clean sheet and getting on the scoresheet himself, Maguire received a lot of criticism for his dramatic celebration against Albania last night. Netizens have suggested that Maguire wanted to silence his critics with that type of gesture.
England head coach Gareth Southgate wasn’t sure what the celebration meant to the 28-year-old.
“Is he a Hulk Hogan fan? I don’t know what the celebration was for,”
he said.
Manchester United has a lot of work to do once the international break ends. The Maguire-led club has slipped out of the top four in recent weeks and has a considerably tough fixture schedule in the coming weeks.
