Harry Maguire’s winning goal against Leicester City shouldn’t have counted after Manchester United benefited from an FA Cup rule change.

The Red Devils needed a second-half comeback to turn their fourth-round tie against Premier League strugglers Leicester City on its head.

Bobby De Cordova-Reid opened the scoring for the Foxes just before the break, but an equaliser from Joshua Zirkzee restored parity midway through the second half before Maguire popped up with the winner in added time.

The English international went unnoticed at the back post, with team-mate Bruno Fernandes picking him out with a lofted free-kick from just inside the Leicester half.

However, replays showed Maguire had edged offside in the build-up to his winning goal, with the ex-Hull City centre-back a yard or two in front of the Leicester backline.

Had it been a Premier League fixture, the goal would’ve been retrospectively ruled out by VAR, but that wasn’t the case in this FA Cup tie.

That’s because it was decided before this year’s edition that VAR wouldn’t be introduced until the fifth round of the competition.

In a statement released in December 2024, the FA said: “Video Assistant Referees (VAR) will only be used in the 2024-25 Emirates FA Cup from the Fifth Round onwards.

“It has been agreed that VAR will be utilised for every match in the Fifth Round of the competition through to the Final at Wembley Stadium, and will not be in operation for the Third and Fourth Rounds.

“VAR has only been used in the Emirates FA Cup previously for matches at Wembley Stadium and at Premier League grounds due to the infrastructure, workforce and costs that are required for its operation.

“This decision ensures that there is a consistent refereeing approach for all clubs taking part in the same stage of the competition.”

Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy bemoaned the decision afterwards, insisting it wasn’t acceptable “at our level”.

When asked if his team lost the match in ‘Fergie time’, he replied: “We were not defeated in Fergie Time, we were defeated in Offside Time.

“This [VAR] wasn’t necessary. VAR you have for a couple of centimetres or inches. This was half a metre, clear in line. It’s a hard one to take, because the team deserves the draw and extra time.”

He added: “We deserved to go on to extra time and go through the battle and maybe penalties. These mistakes at our level are hard to swallow.”

United will find out their FA Cup fifth round opponents on Monday evening.