Manchester United produced a brilliant fightback in the second half as they came back from two goals down to claim an unlikely point against Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday.
It was yet another disastrous first half as the visitors conceded two goals from completely avoidable mistakes at the back and at half-time, it seemed like yet another league defeat was on the cards.
Ruben Amorim had his head in his hands for most of the opening 45 minutes with his continued selection of Casemiro, Diogo Dalot, and Rasmus Hojlund hardly making any sense.
The defence was abysmal till United’s first goal with Harry Maguire losing almost every aerial duel while Matthijs de Ligt looked frightened whenever he got the ball under pressure.
Shocking at the back
But the worst of the lot was the Portuguese right wingback, who fluffed chances to clear the ball which led to the opening goal for the hosts while he was non-existent in an attacking sense as usual.
Amorim keeps persisting with him but he cannot handle the demands of being a wingback and the summer window cannot come soon enough for the head coach, who desperately needs a right wingback along with a striker.
With Amad out for the season, the away fans must have been wondering who would provide that attacking spark to reignite the team given Hojlund once again produced an anonymous display.
And as has been the case for the last five years, it was Bruno Fernandes who stepped forward. The skipper dispatched a free-kick to pull one back for United to give hope to the away fans and some much-needed confidence to a beleaguered bunch of players.
Bruno to the rescue again
Soon after, the returning Manuel Ugarte scored a brilliant equaliser as he crisply struck a half-volley from the edge of the box past Jordan Pickford.
The Portuguese has often been criticised for his penchant for trying Hollywood passes instead of keeping things simple but the fact remains that he is the only world-class player in that squad.
Without him, this team would not survive in the league. On Saturday, he played as a No 10, then when Casemiro went off, he played as the deep-lying playmaker and at times, he was almost playing a box-to-box role.
Amorim must be more brave and play Carrington graduates instead of a few underperforming stars as he looks to steer the club clear of a relegation scrap.
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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
