 "Ruben Amorim has asked his Manchester United team to show more consistency after beating Chelsea. Image: Reuters")
Embattled Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim was given a huge helping hand by his players on Saturday as they defeated Chelsea 2-1 at Old Trafford to secure their second win of the new English Premier League season. Amid talks of Amorim getting closer to a sack at Man United after the 3-0 derby defeat to Manchester City last weekend, the victory has come as a major relief for the 40-year-old Portuguese tactician.
United were given an early advantage as Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was red-carded for denying Bryan Mbeumo a clear goalscoring opportunity. United made the most of the advantage as Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro scored one goal each to give them a 2-0 lead by half-time.
Man United manager Amorim sends Grimsby warning
Casemiro’s red card at the stroke of half-time for two yellow cards brought the game back in balance, but despite Trevoh Chalobah scoring one for Chelsea in the 80th minute, United held onto their second victory in five matches.
Amorim was quick to give a Grimsby Town warning to his Man United players as he demanded more consistency from his players.
“It is really important because I understand the situation around this club. We cannot forget that we suffer a lot when we are on top,” Amorim said.
“We can lose against Grimsby, we can beat any team. I’m just thinking about the next one. It is really good to win. We need the urgency to win again, that is really important for us."
United were knocked out of the League Cup in the second round by League Two side Grimsby Town.
On Casemiro’s red card, Amorim said: “He’s [feeling] worse than me. We won, so I will forget a little bit and he will suffer because he’s a top professional.
“He understands what he did. He is experienced enough that the play should not be played like that. He cares too much.”
The Portuguese coach also praised the United fans for showing support to the team in difficult conditions. “We suffered in the end but we deserved the win. Our crowd, our fans are easy to please. If you give everything, they will be there,” he said.
“That is something our players need to understand. To have the crowd with us, we just need to run, to fight and tackle. With this win, we have to forget the good feeling of winning the game and get back to the urgency of feeling we need to win the next game.”