Tag: Man United

Manchester United poured on the misery for flagging Premier League champions Manchester City as late goals by Bruno Fernandes and Amad Diallo snatched an unlikely 2-1 away victory from the jaws of defeat .

Ruben Amorim’s side were heading for a third consecutive league defeat as they trailed to Josko Gvardiol’s header.

But a scrappy derby short of quality had a stunning late twist as a mistake by Matheus Nunes led to a penalty which allowed Fernandes the chance to level from the spot in the 88th  minute.

City had hardly got over that shock when seconds later Diallo sent the visiting fans into delirium with a superb finish from the tightest of angles.

City have now won only once in 11 games in all competitions and stay fifth in the table. United moved up to 12th .

Neither side started the game brimming with any fluency after bleak recent results nor United did not have a shot on target before the interval.

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United manager Ruben Amorim flexed his muscles ahead of his first Manchester derby, leaving Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho out of his match-day squad and he was then forced to make an early switch as Mason Mount hobbled off after 14 minutes to be replaced by Kobbie Mainoo.

It took 20 minutes for City to muster a shot at goal as Phil Foden’s half-volley went wide. At the other end Diallo struck the outside of the post with a shot but he was offside anyway.

City’s fans were becoming restless but the tension lifted around the Etihad Stadium in the 36th  minute as, from a short corner, De Bruyne’s cross was deflected and dropped invitingly for Gvardiol to guide a header past Andre Onana.

It was the eighth goal United have conceded from a corner this season, a figure only topped by Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Tempers boiled over soon afterwards as City’s Kyle Walker and Rasmus Hojland came together like two rutting stags and Walker fell theatrically to the ground, earning both players yellow cards after a melee involving several more.

United kept themselves in the game in the second half and should have equalised when Bruno Fernandes was played through on goal but his dinked finish drifted agonisingly wide.

City failed to even have a shot on target after the break and were left devastated as their world collapsed around them.

Nunes’s terrible back pass was seized upon by Diallo and he then compounded the error by hacking down the United player.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says it is too early to rule Manchester United out of the Premier League title race as he prepares his in-form team to face Ruben Amorim’s resurgent side tonight.

United are 15 points behind leaders Liverpool and four points off the Champions League spots after 13 matches.

Arteta was asked at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday whether United could be in the title mix despite their poor start to the season under the sacked Erik ten Hag.

“It’s still very early in the season,” said the Spaniard, whose team are second in the table, six points clear of United.

“Any team that has the capacity to put five or six wins in a row is going to be up there because it’s so tough and you see every week how all the teams are struggling to maintain winning, winning and winning. So, I think anything is possible.”

And Arteta said champions Manchester City were still a danger despite their recent slump – Pep Guardiola’s men have lost their past four league matches to fall 11 points behind Liverpool.

“Again, if there is a team with the capacity to turn it around and start to win, win, win and win –- don’t rule them out because you know how much quality they have,” he said.

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Arsenal have a good recent home record against United, who have won two and drawn one of their first three games in all competitions under Amorim.

Arteta said he could already see the influence of the former Sporting Lisbon boss, just weeks after he replaced Ten Hag.

“You can see his fingerprints in what he wants to do straight away,” he said. “I think he’s been very clear; he’s been very successful with Sporting.

“He brings energy to a new club and to the players new ideas and that’s always something positive but we have to focus on what we have to do.”

Arsenal have also been drawn against holders United in the third round of the FA Cup, which takes place early next month.

“We play at home, it’s going to be a big match again and it’s a little bit of the story of the last few seasons that in the third or fourth round we are playing big opponents,” he said.

“But we want to do what we have done historically at this club and in the end, you have to beat the big teams to win it. It is what it is. We are excited.”

With Ruud van Nistelrooy at the wheel, Manchester United headline this weekend’s Premier League action tomorrow , when old foes Chelsea rock up to Old Trafford.

The two English behemoths suffered contrasting EFL Cup fates in midweek, as the Red Devils pummelled Leicester City 5-2 while the Blues were eliminated by Newcastle United.

As the Old Trafford hierarchy thrash out the final details of Ruben Amorim’s managerial contract, former Red Devils attacking talisman Van Nistelrooy seeks a repeat of Wednesday’s EFL Cup crushing of Leicester against a team in a similar shade of blue this time around.

A seven-goal spectacular that was sparked into life by a Casemiro stunner, Man United breached the Foxes’ defence four more times through the Brazil international again, Bruno Fernandes (two) and Alejandro Garnacho to prove that the new manager bounce remains alive and well.

A lethal striker during his playing heyday, Van Nistelrooy could hardly have been happier with his players’ attacking application in midweek, but the same could not be said for the now-unemployed Erik ten Hag at the London Stadium last weekend.

A devastating 2-1 defeat to West Ham United – in which Man United wasted golden chance after golden chance – hammered the final nail into Ten Hag’s Old Trafford coffin, as the ex-Ajax boss departed with Man United in a lowly 14th  place in the Premier League table.

Boasting just a paltry eight goals from their nine top-flight outings so far, Man United are one of five teams yet to hit the 10-goal mark in the 2024-25 Premier League – the others being Newcastle United, Crystal Palace, Southampton and Ipswich Town – but Wednesday’s five-star performance offers hope of a significant turnaround in attacking fortunes.

Chelsea have needed no guidance in making nets bulge under the tutelage of their newly-appointed head coach Enzo Maresca, thanks in no small part to the continued mastery of Cole Palmer, whose crisp finish made the difference against Newcastle United last weekend.

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However, Maresca made a full 11 changes to that winning formula for the midweek reunion with the Magpies in the EFL Cup, and his second-string side could not replicate the feats of their superiors, who succumbed to Alexander Isak’s opener and a comical Axel Disasi own goal.

Not all Blues supporters may be losing sleep over their side’s EFL Cup exit, though, as the visitors’ unexpected Champions League charge is certainly taking priority as the winter months approach; Maresca’s men reside in fifth place with just a one-point gap to make up to Arsenal and Aston Villa at the time of writing.

The former side were coincidentally the last team to shut out Chelsea in a Premier League away game, as the Blues have now scored in seven straight road matches in England’s top flight, although the 2-1 loss to Liverpool last month ended their five-game winning sequence in Premier League contests on rival turf.

A fixture that produced five straight low-key draws between October 2020 and October 2022, the more recent battles between Chelsea and Man United have been far more entertaining for the neutrals, as the Red Devils won 4-1 at Old Trafford in 2022-23 before Chelsea came up trumps 4-3 at Stamford Bridge in one of the games of 2023-24.

Manchester United have sacked manager Erik ten Hag in what the club said yesterday was a unanimous decision, with the Old Trafford side 14^th  in the Premier League after nine games and showing no sign they are on a path back to former glory.

United’s assistant manager and ex-striker Ruud van Nistelrooy will take over on an interim basis while they search for a new manager, the club said in a statement.

Appointed in April 2022, Ten Hag led United to two domestic trophies – the League Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024.

But the 54-year-old’s job was the subject of speculation most of last season as United suffered a worst-ever eighth place Premier League finish and exited the Champions League at the group stage and the Dutchman found himself firmly in the hot seat again this season amid a woeful start to the campaign.

United have won four of their 14 games in all competitions so far this term and endured damaging 3-0 losses against Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford.

They have achieved 11 points from nine matches in the Premier League, which is far off target, the club said, to achieve their goal of a fourth-place finish.

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“Erik ten Hag has left his role as Manchester United men’s first-team manager,” United said in a statement. “Ruud van Nistelrooy will take charge of the team as interim head coach, supported by the current coaching team, whilst a permanent head coach is recruited.”

With British billionaire and INEOS chairman Jim Ratcliffe taking over football operations last season, the club initially stuck with Ten Hag to have continuity in the manager’s position during a time of change but United did not see any momentum or progress to believe they were on the right path.

A poor start to the season also saw United draw their first three Europa League games from winning positions.

Sunday’s 2-1 Premier League loss at lowly West Ham United in which Ten Hag’s side failed to capitalise on numerous chances only increased the media speculation that he would be sacked.

United finished last term with a surprise FA Cup final win over Manchester City and Ten Hag pointed to the team’s numerous injuries to help explain their poor form.

He signed a new contract to extend his stay until 2026 and get another chance to restore the 20-times English league champions to former glories.

United’s woeful start to this season has come despite more than 600 million pounds ($779.28 million) being spent on new players since Ten Hag took charge ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.

Manchester United came from behind to beat Brentford 2-1 at Old Trafford and end their winless run.

Ethan Pinnock’s header in first-half stoppage-time had heaped further pressure on Erik ten Hag, whose team came into the contest without a win in five games, but superb second-half goals by Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund turned it around.

It was an impressive transformation given that United had struggled to create before the break with confidence presumably low. But these three points lift United above the Bees into the top half of the table ahead of a trip to Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce in midweek.

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United had a few early half-chances through the impressive Garnacho but Brentford, with their trademark combination of short passes and long throws, played the more coherent and enterprising football in the first half with Bryan Mbeumo to the fore.

The reward for that performance came in slightly controversial circumstances given that Matthijs de Ligt was forced off the field temporarily for treatment on a head injury sustained earlier in the half. Pinnock headed in the corner with the center-back absent.

Milan legend Ruud Gullit says his compatriot Joshua Zirkzee should have joined the Rossoneri instead of Manchester United because ‘he knew Serie’.

Dutch striker Zirkzee left Bologna last summer to move to Old Trafford.

Even if he scored on his competitive debut for the Red Devils in August, the 23-year-old still has just one goal in nine appearances with his new club.

“Zirkzee should have joined Milan rather than Manchester United,” Gullit told Gazzetta. “He knew Serie A and a couple extra seasons in this competition at a top club like Milan would have been ideal for his development. Now, he’s in a club with many problems, which is not making his growth easy.”

Milan held talks with Zirkzee and were ready to pay his €40m clause but failed to reach an agreement over the agent’s commission. 

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“I hope Zirkzee can turn it around, even if needing some time to settle in is natural,” insisted Gullit. “He’s undoubtedly a good player, but it’s hard to do well at Man United in this historical moment.”

Zirkzee compatriot Koopmeiners, on the other hand, opted to stay in Serie A, joining Juventus from Atalanta, despite interest from foreign clubs.

“It was a significant step forward for him, which he deserved after these seasons at Atalanta. He’s a total midfielder. He knows how to do everything,” said Gullit.