Manchester United were second best for 80 minutes but turned the game on its head in the final 12 minutes to eventually run away with it in the end as they claimed a 3-1 win at Old Trafford against Southampton on Thursday.
Amad Diallo turned out to be the matchwinner on his own as the Ivorian netted a 12-minute hattrick to spare the blushes of his head coach.
Ruben Amorim had revealed that he would learn a lot about his team from tonight’s game and he must have figured out that his team’s biggest weakness lies in front of goal.
Alejandro Garnacho and Antony were guilty of spurning gilt-edged chances in either half while the form of Rasmus Hojlund is a huge concern for the Portuguese.
Rasmus had another shocker
The Dane has now gone eight games without a goal but his general play was shocking again as he failed to hold on to the ball under pressure, this time against the bottom Premier League side.
The United No 9 won an abysmal two duels out of 10 (one ground duel and one aerial duel) while losing possession six times. He did not manage a single dribble, nor shot on target.
The striker also did not manage a single cross or long ball nor did he make any defensive contributions (all stats via sofascore).
The Denmark international had a mere 18 touches and completed eight passes out of 10 while making two key passes, one of which should have been finished off by Garnacho in the first half.
He looked frustrated whenever things did not go his way and Amorim was right to take him off early in the second half for Joshua Zirkzee, who made an immediate impact and was by far a major improvement on the Dane.
He is only 21 but United need more than just potential, they need their striker to score and affect the game in a positive manner but Hojlund was anything but.
Amorim needs more from Rasmus
With Marcus Rashford’s future up in the air and Zirkzee also being linked with a move away from Manchester, Amorim would have expected a lot more from the former Atalanta star.
Hojlund often is more focussed on fighting the defender while playing with his back to goal than with using his brain to outsmart the opposition.
This season he has been very easy to play against and in all honesty, he does not look like he has improved much from his debut campaign.
On current form, Zirkzee deserves to start ahead of him in the game against Brighton on Sunday but Amorim will take the final call.
Feature image Carl Recine via Getty Images
Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social
Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
