West Brom 0 Manchester United 3: Adnan Januzaj booked after he tries to replicate Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God'

Januzaj tried to get to the ball before Ben Foster but used his arm blatantly and was booked for his efforts

Jack de Menezes
Saturday 08 March 2014 10:37 EST
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Adnan Januzaj was booked for his hand ball when trying to round West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster, in a near-replica to Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' against England in 1986
Adnan Januzaj was booked for his hand ball when trying to round West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster, in a near-replica to Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' against England in 1986 (Getty Images)

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Adnan Januzaj has been praised with being a bright spark in Manchester United’s dark season, leading to a number of countries, including England, looking into whether he qualifies for the national side.

With England, Belgium, Serbia and newly Fifa-approved Kosovo all after his services, Januzaj has some decisions to make. However, one other country may have now sat up and taken notice in the form of Argentina. Not because he can play from them – far from it – but that during United’s Premier League victory over West Brom, he performed an almost perfect replication of Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ 28 years after he used it to score against England in the 1986 World Cup.

Almost perfect, because he didn’t quite score, and he also was spotted using his arm to try and loop the ball over Baggies goalkeeper Ben Foster and received a yellow card for his blatant cheating.

It’s not the first time he has been booked this season for unsportsmanlike conduct, having become the second most booked player for simulation in Premier League history with his three yellow cards this season.

Gareth Bale is the only player to earn more (seven) and while Januzaj is certainly naturally gifted, he’ll want to cut out the bad parts of his game sooner rather than later.

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