Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has praised his side for not being “boring” in the defeat to Arsenal; Sky Sports’ Roy Keane criticised the “low expectations” at Old Trafford but did praise an encouraging performance; Man Utd face Fulham in their next fixture, live on Sky Sports
Ruben Amorim has praised his Manchester United side for not being “boring” during the 1-0 loss to Arsenal but Roy Keane has criticised the low expectations at the club following the defeat.
United’s new-look attack – consisting of Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo – impressed throughout the fixture as Amorim’s side played with a fresh impetus going forward.
The hosts unleashed a total of 22 shots towards the Arsenal goal, with nine of these coming from Mbeumo and Cunha, as well as two from fellow new arrival Benjamin Sesko off the bench.
Despite their promise and threat, David Raya’s seven saves at Old Trafford ensured Mikel Arteta’s side walked away with a clean sheet and all three points on the afternoon after Altay Bayindir’s error gifted Riccardo Calafiori the only goal in the game.
​​​​​​​In the aftermath of the defeat, Amorim chose to focus on the positives from the performance, where he applauded their improved bravery and aggression in comparison to last season.
“The most important thing – we weren’t boring. I’m really proud of the guys. They were really brave in everything they did during the game,” he told Sky Sports.
“Congratulations for the performance, but not congratulations [for the result] because we lost the game at home.
“We clearly deserved a different result and we need to move forward to the next one.
“We were more aggressive than last year, we sprinted more, we were braver, we went one against one for the whole game and we pressed high.
“With the ball, we have quality, even when the stadium makes some sound, we continued to play the way we play. We lost fewer balls in the build-up compared to last year, when we struggled a lot.
“We need to win games but that was a completely different game to last season.”
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United will look to convert another positive performance into points in their next fixture when they face Fulham, live on Super Sunday, on August 24.
