MANCHESTER, England : A couple of hours before Manchester United’s 2-1 comeback victory over rivals Manchester City, United manager Ruben Amorim was already making headlines for his bold decision to leave forwards Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho at home.
Amorim’s men roared back in the dying minutes to beat City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday thanks to goals from Bruno Fernandes and Amad Diallo, and the United boss said his decisions were all about holding his players to high standards.
“When people in the club are losing their jobs, we have to push our standards really high,” Amorim said, in reference to former Sporting Director Dan Ashworth, who parted ways with the club a week earlier.
Omitting Rashford and Garnacho, Amorim said, however, was not a disciplinary move.
“Next week, next game, new life, they are fighting for their places but for me it’s important, the performance in training, the performance in game, the way you dress, the way you eat, the way you engage with teammates, the way you push your teammates, everything is important when we want to change a lot of things,” the 39-year-old said.
“They have to fight for a place in the team and today the team proved we can leave anyone out of the squad and manage to win if you play together.”
While United remained in 13th spot in the table, Amorim’s second Premier League victory since he took command in mid-November – against the reigning champions in the unfriendly confines of Etihad Stadium – felt important.
“I think for the fans it has a deep meaning, especially in this context, this moment, but we have a difficult moment one week ago against Nottingham (3-2 defeat) in the storm,” Amorim said. “Next week we will have three games, it will change the way we see the game. Today is a good day, let’s enjoy it for 10 minutes.”
United looked to be heading for what would have been three consecutive Premier League defeats for the first time since December 2015 before their late-game dramatics, sparked by Matheus Nunes’s mistake in dragging down Diallo in the box.
Fernandes scored from the penalty spot in the 88th minute before Diallo found the back of the net from a tight angle less than two minutes later, sending the visiting fans into a frenzy.
Diallo’s goal was just the seventh 90th-minute winner scored against the reigning Premier League champions, and 88 minutes was the latest into a game that a reigning champion has led in a Premier League match and lost.
