Paul Pogba was furious against Harry Maguire after kicking him in the head

April 16, 2022

Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba was left fuming with his team-mate and captain Harry Maguire after the England man accidentally kicked him the head, drawing blood from the Frenchman.

United beat relegation-bound Norwich 3-2 at Old Trafford to keep them in the hunt for the top four and Champions League football.

Having led 2-0, United were however pegged back by Norwich and the tension in the ground was palpable.

It appears that tension translated itself onto the players, with Pogba appearing angry with his captain after Maguire had struck him in the head accidentally when jumping for the ball at a corner.

The incident happened on the hour mark after Alex Telles had swung the ball in. Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored a hat-trick on the day, leapt and met the ball but it was safely gathered by Tim Krul in the Norwich goal.

Jumping with Ronaldo for the ball was Maguire who clumsily fell over an also-leaping Norwich defender.

As he fell down to the ground his right leg elevated and caught Pogba on its way down on the back of his head.

The midfielder immediately held his head in pain before a United medic emerged to assess the player. While being assessed it was clear that Pogba was not happy, with the Frenchman staring angrily into the distance.

Prior to the medic coming on, Ronaldo had acted as a mediator to try and calm Pogba down who was clearly extremely frustrated with Maguire. The Portuguese was seen putting an arm round Pogba all while the French international was motioning over to Maguire who had returned to the United half.

The incident garnered quite the reaction on social media, with Maguire, who has endured a difficult season, appearing to be the brunt of many of the jokes.

One said: ‘Harry Maguire has managed to kick Paul Pogba in the head and draw blood. Pointing his own players out for handball one week, kicking others in the head another week.’

Meanwhile various others chose to add a wrestling element to the incident, with one saying ‘Maguire hit Pogba with a scorpion kick’.

Maguire deserves [the] Puskas award for the scorpion kick to Pogba,’ another added.

However, it was happy families at the end of a positive afternoon for Ralf Rangnick’s side as they claimed three points on an afternoon that top four rivals Spurs and Arsenal both dropped points.

United are currently fifth having played one game more than Arsenal in sixth, three points behind Spurs in fourth