Alan Shearer was impressed by Chido Obi’s camero appearance off the bench during Manchester United’s penalty shootout defeat to Fulham in the FA Cup.
Neither side could be separated after 120 minutes at Old Trafford, with penalties needed after Bruno Fernandes cancelled out Calvin Bassey’s first-half header.
And it was Bernd Leno who proved the hero in the shootout, denying Victor Lindelof and Joshau Zirkzee’s spot kicks to dump the defending champions out in the fifth round.
It was another disappointing performance for Ruben Amorim’s side who grew into the contest after a poor first half, but lacked the clinical edge to find a winner.
Perhaps the only positive was the bright cameo of Obi who replaced Rasmus Hojlund in the 68th minute and provided a far greater attacking thrust than his Danish counterpart.
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Obi fashioned three shots compared the Hojlund’s one, with BBC commentator Shearer left impressed by his all-round display.
‘He’s been a real handful in there you know,’ said Shearer.
‘He’s certainly offered a lot more than Hojlund has when he was on the pitch. He’s been a nuisance and tough to play against.
‘I like what I see from Obi, I really do. He’s certainly given them a different option to play with.’
Amorim was also encourgaed by Obi’s performance, telling MUTV at full-time: ‘I think Chido did really well today. Of course, he was a little bit naïve in some moments, but you felt that, inside the box, he wants the ball – something the strikers have and he has.’
United face a quick turnaround before Thursday’s Europa League last-16 first leg away against Real Sociedad, and Amorim hinted that Obi could be in line to replace Hojlund who is now 17 games without a goal for United.
‘Anything can happen in the next games, and during training,’ Amorim told reporters in his post-match press conference.
‘We don’t have a lot to time to train, but we need to see the opposition, feel the moment of the player physically in this moment with a lot of games, because we are going to start playing Thursday-Sunday.
‘We have a problem with goals. Today we create situations, but sometimes you feel that only in set pieces we are going to make some danger.’
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