Manchester United’s record signing Angel Di Maria is back in the news. This time, not for a spectacular goal or another transfer, but for a shot that went off target. Well, off target by such a distance that the ball went sailing outside the stadium.
In United’s FA Cup match against Cambridge United at the Abbey Stadium, the Argentine winger forced the officials to use another match ball after hitting one out of the park.
To be fair to Di Maria, in a Premier League stadium, the ball would have barely even cleared the first tier as the League Two side’s stadium can hold a mere 8,127 spectators. However, for the match, all the seats were taken and 8000+ spectators plus the people glued to their television sets witnessed Di Maria’s shot that went into orbit.
To make matters worse for Di Maria, the Cambridge supporters were heard singing ‘What a waste of money’ at the Premier League’s most expensive player.
The Argentine was out of sorts, like his entire team, as the home side celebrated after the match, having secured a valuable replay at Old Trafford, where surely even the £60-million man won’t be able to hit the ball out of the stadium even if he tried.
Here is the video of the shot that was probably the highlight of the match: