Amorin says more belief was the key after United stun City in Manchester derby [video]
Manchester City 1-2 Manchester United
Rúben Amorin secured the biggest victory of his tenure at Manchester United so far on Sunday afternoon, after the Red Devils staged a sensational late comeback to beat local rivals Manchester City in the Premier League, in a match littered with Portuguese protagonists.
A dreadful error by Matheus Nunes led to Bruno Fernandes instigating the fightback as United scored twice in the closing minutes of normal time to inflict further misery on Pep Guardiola’s out of form champions, giving United a much-needed boost after back-to-back league defeats.
In what was a tight game of few chances, United fell behind when City, who had Rúben Dias, Matheus Nunes and Bernardo Silva in their line-up, took the lead on 36 minutes through Joko Gvardiol’s header. United also started with two Portuguese in the line-up – Diogo Dalot at left wing-back and Bruno Fernandes captaining the side in midfield – but went into the break having created little.
United grew into the game more in the second half and threatened with a clearcut one-v-one chance for Fernandes, which he lifted wide, as well as a penalty shout when Dias tangled with Rasmus Hojlund. However, as the clock entered the final five minutes, it appeared City were on-course for a much-needed victory.
The deciding factor in the game came in the shape of United’s Ivorian forward Amad Diallo, whom Amorim has taken a clear liking to. Amad was perhaps the best player on the pitch throughout the encounter, but he required significant assistance from Matheus Nunes to facilitate United’s equaliser.
Nunes, who was deputising at left-back as a result of City’s injury issues, played a short back-pass to goalkeeper Ederson which was intercepted by Amad. Keen to make up for his error, Nunes hurried back to contest Amad, only to clatter into the United man and concede a penalty, from which Fernandes calmly gave United parity.
City were rocked by the setback and within two minutes United scored the most unlikely of winners. Amad was again alive to possibilities in the fragile home backline and his clever run was picked out by Lisandro Martinez, with Amad touching the throughball past Ederson and finding the net with his finish from an acute angle.
After the match, City star Bernardo Silva was damning in his criticism of his team, whom he accused of making “stupid mistakes” to let their rivals back into the match. Nunes himself gestured to the City fans in acknowledgement of his role in the collapse, but Bernardo was furious with the way his side allowed United to steal the points.
????️ "Today, the last minutes we played like Under 15s."
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 15, 2024
Bernardo Silva says Manchester City "totally deserved" the defeat to Manchester United ???? pic.twitter.com/zLWFhyUETH
For Amorim, a huge result which came amid much media focus on his decision to leave forwards Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho out of the matchday squad. Rashford is one of United’s longest-serving players as well as highest earners, while Garnacho was heavily relied upon by previous manager Erik ten Hag despite his tender 20 years of age.
“When people in our club are losing their jobs, we have to put the standards really high.”
— Sean Gillen (@SeanGillen9) December 15, 2024
Amorim explains dropping Rashford & Garnacho pic.twitter.com/dWxU12uBN3
Despite the close nature of the contest and the strange circumstances leading to the United goals, Amorim insisted his side deserved a positive result for their levels of belief. United contested the possession stats well with 48% while their expected goals (XG) of 2.18 more than doubled City’s 0.98.
“I think [we deserved to win] which is hard to say now because I’m a Manchester United coach,” Amorim said. “But I think we did a great job, we controlled Manchester City very well. We didn’t allow much, of course we didn’t create much either. It was an even game.
“We believed a lot. It was different from Arsenal where we controlled the game of Arsenal in the first half but I didn’t feel that belief. Today, I felt it. I think that was the key point to change the game.”
By @SeanGillen9