Manchester, England – Reuben Amorim’s “one step forward, one step back” nature Manchester United Prompting the Portuguese coach to say a few weeks ago: “There is no momentum in our club.” On the way to victory after defeating Brighton Sunderland And liverpoolHe does it now. two goals from Brian Mbeumo and one for each mattheus cunha And casemiro earned 4-2 Win it three times in a row.
Nothing ever seems to be straightforward for United, and Amorim had to watch nervously as Brighton fought back from 3-0 down to get a point from 3-2 down. Mbuemo’s late second goal finally eased the tension, and for the first time since February 2024, United are on track to win. Premier League Expansion of three games.
Amorim later said, “The result was really important and so was the performance.” “We had to play different games in different moments of the game. In the end we suffered a little bit. It wouldn’t have been Manchester United without a little bit of trouble, but I think we deserved to win against a very, very good team.”
Amorim’s coaching credentials were dashed during a difficult start to his United reign. But they got it right against Liverpool at Anfield last weekend and have done so again here. with brighton forward Georginio Rutter And danny welbeck Dropping deep into midfield at the goalkeeper’s disposal bart verbruggen Got the ball, Amorim asked the defenders luke shaw And matthijs de ligt To follow them. It was an aggressive approach and sometimes left gaps for the Brighton runners, but it paid off.
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United were already ahead thanks to Matheus Cunha’s first goal since his summer move from Wolves. And when Brighton tried to play out from the back again, the ball passed to Rutter, who was pounced on by Shaw. The ball reached Casemiro and the Brazilian took a huge deflection and found the net from outside the box. yasin ayariWith Verbruggen’s completely misplaced stance, there was an element of luck, but it was made possible by Amorim’s planning.
He can coach after all.
“That was the plan,” Amorim said. “When we have Harry MaguireWe can defend the box better and play a little lower. But when you have players who can add pressure — [Matthijs de Ligt] And Luke Shaw – we can press a little more.”
It was a triumph of Amorim’s tactical intelligence, as well as that of CEO Omar Berrada, director of football Jason Wilcox and the recruitment team. The lack of goals was a serious problem last season, and United tried to fix it in the summer by bringing in Cunha, Mbuemo and. benjamin sescoCunha performed brilliantly in the win at Anfield and was eventually rewarded with his first United goal with a pinpoint finish. It was the kind of half chance that wasn’t taken last season.
After Casemiro’s fluke strike made the score 2–0, Mbeumo added to his goal at Anfield by firing into the bottom corner between the legs of a Brighton defender. At that point – at the hour mark – the game should have been over. But after having the impressive Casemiro removed to save his legs, Brighton eventually got themselves on the front foot and scored twice through a brilliantly taken Danny Welbeck free kick and a Charalampos Kostoulas header. It was only when Mbeumo scored again in stoppage time that Amorim could be reassured of that precious momentum.
“If we win by having the ball high, we have players in front of goal and they are so good that you only need one chance,” Amorim said.
Asked what the biggest difference was to Amorim’s team compared to Brighton’s victory at Old Trafford in January, manager Fabian Herzeler praised United’s pressing and made special mention of the impact of Amorim’s new players. “They played well in the first half,” he said. “Much more intense, much more concise. More personal quality so the money was well invested.”
It is in these types of games that United have struggled most since Amorim’s appointment. Apart from defeating newly promoted teams and some of the Big Six, it had only defeated everton, fulham And Aston VillaHe can now add Brighton to the list, and for the United boss, it creates a different kind of satisfaction than a headline-grabbing win at Anfield.
“I think it was a more complete performance,” Amorim said. “You can say what you want against Liverpool, but they didn’t deserve to lose that game. We deserved to win but they didn’t deserve to lose. I think today we did a little bit of everything. We had the ball, we created chances, we defended high, we defended low. So then it’s more complete.”
At the final whistle, United moved into the top four – a position Amorim had never previously occupied since taking charge almost a year earlier. Finally, the momentum has arrived.
