Former captain Gary Neville has hailed Joshua Zirkzee for stepping up and scoring Manchester United's final penalty in Sunday's FA Cup third round shootout win over Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.

After the contest had finished 1-1 following 120 minutes, United progressed to the fourth round on penalties, winning 5-3. Zirkzee scored the decisive spot-kick to set up a tie with Leicester City at Old Trafford next month.

The Dutchman, who joined United from Bologna last summer, was quickly mobbed by his teammates and supporters chanted his name, marking a heart-warming turnaround for the forward, who was booed and jeered off the pitch by some fans at Old Trafford against Newcastle United 13 days earlier.

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Zirkzee was substituted in the first half of the 2-0 defeat to the Magpies, being replaced by Kobbie Mainoo, and some fans produced ironic cheers when the fourth official's board displayed his shirt number in red. The Dutchman headed straight down the tunnel before reappearing a few minutes later.

Having experienced two contrasting set of emotions in less than a fortnight, Neville has credited Zirkzee for stepping up and taking a penalty when the pressure was on.

Neville, writing on LinkedIn, said: "A few weeks back Joshua Zirkzee was subbed off and I described the reaction at the time on commentary as brutal. I felt sorry for him in that moment.

"There have been noises that he may even leave because of it. He's a young player who has had a tough start to his United career in a period where it's been a challenge for the club with the change of manager and results, and sometimes those reactions from the crowd happen and it's difficult for any player to deal with.

"To step up to take the final pressure penalty yesterday at the Emirates is exactly the response you want to see from a player when something like that happens, and you could see the reaction from the other players towards him and what it meant.

"It will have been a rough moment for him the other week and he still has a long way to go but scoring that penalty and hearing the United fans singing his name was a great pick-me-up moment for him."