“Good moments, difficult moments, confusion” – Ruben Amorim sums up first United win
Manchester United 3-2 Bodø / Glimt
Rúben Amorim has his first victory as Manchester United manager, after the Red Devils came out on top of a tumultuous match against Norwegians Bodø / Glimt at Old Trafford.
As was the case in Amorim’s first match against Ipswich, United made a bright start to score inside the first minute, but the visitors scored twice in quick succession leading to Amorim’s men needing to come from behind to secure the points in the Europa League.
Rasmus Hojlund was perhaps the standout performer and his alertness led to the opener inside the first minute when the Dane hurried Bodø goalkeeper Nikita Haikin into an error from which Alejandro Garnacho tapped into an empty net. United appeared in control, but a quickfire double by Hakon Evjen (19’) and Philip Zinckemagel (23’) sent the sizeable away support into raptures.
United took some time to build momentum in responding, but levelled just before the break when Noussair Mazraoui’s brilliant set-up was expertly finished by Hojlund. Within five minutes of the break United were back ahead – this time former Sporting midfielder Manuel Ugarte provided the assist with a low cross which Hojlund turned in for his second.
Ultimately the victory on Amorim’s home debut was deserved, albeit with some nervy defensive moments and perhaps too passive a spell in the first half after Bodø had taken the lead. Speaking after the match, Amorim appeared pleased with the efforts of his players, who have yet to have substantial training time with the new boss.
“Happy? Yeah,” Amorim told TNT Sports. “Of course I see what everybody else sees: good moments; difficult moments; some confusion in the end trying to hold the result, but the lads did a great job. They ran, they pressed, they tried to do the things we worked on during these three days. And we won.
“It was a real ride. We started very well and then we suffered two goals in two transitions. I liked the way the players continued to play our game. They are really trying, but I think we deserved the win.”
Bruno better with the goal in front
There were changes for both of United’s Portugal internationals, Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot. Fernandes was dropped back into a deeper central midfield position, while Dalot was removed from the line-up, but did come on at half time to perform a multifunctional role on the left, which included dovetailing a no10 position with dropping back to left-back at times.
“Bruno? You can feel that he’s the most experienced player,” Amorim said. “Sometimes [when] we start the play, Bruno is the right man to start the tempo. Then when they play with a back four and they try to really close inside, we try to switch play and Bruno is the best one in doing that. He’s a midfielder. If you see this game, Mason Mount is always with his back to goal, which is hard. Bruno is better with the goal in front of him.”
Amorim was given a warm welcome by the Old Trafford fans, which he admits has left an impression on him. The former Sporting boss must now prepare his side for Sunday’s home match with Everton, in which Amorim will hope to secure his first Premier League victory.
“Half of the stadium doesn’t really know me. I came from Portugal and I did nothing for this club yet. So the way they make me feel at home is so special. It’s not after something, it’s before something. This is special and I will keep this until the end of my career.
“I get anxious because I don’t know what will happen. You don’t control anything at the moment. We are trying to see different things, of course we have an idea for each game. But I don’t know the players and we don’t work a lot together, so we go to the game excited because we want to see different things, but at the same time you are a bit anxious and nervous because you don’t know how the game will go.”
By @SeanGillen9