Ruben Amorim has said he loves his Manchester United squad after their hard-fought victory over Burnley thanks to a late Bruno Fernandes penalty. The head coach had admitted on Friday he “sometimes hates” his players but their hard work on Saturday was rewarded with affection, having recovered from Wednesday’s Carabao Cup embarrassment at Grimsby.
United should have won more easily, instead being reliant on a controversial intervention from the video assistant referee in second-half injury time when the referee, Sam Barrott, wandered over to the pitchside monitor and decided Jaidon Anthony pulling back Amad Diallo’s shirt, which started outside the area, was worthy of a penalty. United had led twice through a Josh Cullen own goal and Bryan Mbeumo’s first Old Trafford strike but Lyle Foster and Anthony equalised as Burnley looked set for a point until Fernandes intervened.
“When they put the effort in, I always love them,” Amorim said. “Even when Amad is missing that kind of goal, I love Amad if he’s giving everything. And I think we need to understand that we should always be on this level of effort. Because even in the game, we played well in the beginning. I think we struggled when we changed the characteristics of the players because the match is not so perfect and you can feel that the team struggled a little bit, especially in the second half. But the effort was always there. It ended well, I think we deserved to win the game, I think we created a lot of chances, we should go to the half-time with a bigger advantage.”
Matheus Cunha had to be taken off in the first half after pulling up when sprinting for the ball. Instead of sending on the new signing Benjamin Sesko, who was the final United outfield player to take a penalty at Grimsby, Amorim elected to replace the Brazilian with Joshua Zirkzee. When Mason Mount was unable to continue, Kobbie Mainoo replaced him, leaving Sesko to wait until the 72nd minute to come on.
“Everything is connected,” Amorim said. “He finished the game [against Grimsby] with cramps, really at the limit. That’s why we protected Ben from the penalties. Today was that reason also because Zirkzee is also a striker, he’s an international striker. But I was thinking that Ben, during the pre-season, he didn’t do 90 minutes.”
Burnley were also left confused by Foster having a goal ruled out for offside before the late call from the referee and video officials. “The ref didn’t give it, the linesman didn’t give it, he’s 10 metres away,” Scott Parker, the Clarets’ manager, said. “The guy 100 miles away has decided that it’s a clear and obvious error from the ref, and then, obviously, it’s a penalty.
“That’s the way the game is, the game’s going that way. It’s going to become the most sterile game there is really. The linesmen and referees are slowly becoming redundant. We live in a world of perfection and when everyone wants perfection. Social media brings that, I think we want perfection in a game of football, which I just don’t agree with.”
