Manchester United eased their way into the Europa League Round of 16 with a comfortable 2-0 win over FCSB at the National Arena in Bucharest on Thursday.
The win meant the Red Devils became the only team to remain unbeaten during the course of the group stage as they finished in third spot.
Second-half goals from Diogo Dalot and Kobbie Mainoo proved to be the difference in the end and the visitors could have scored a lot more but for some profligate finishing.
The new year has started well for Ruben Amorim with the 20-time English league champions losing only once in all competitions and the Portuguese’s tactics seem to have brought out the best out of two key stars.
Mainoo excels as a No 10
Many have argued that Kobbie Mainoo’s best position was as a No 10 but under former manager Erik ten Hag, he was deployed mainly as a defensive midfielder or in central midfield.
But Amorim has given him the licence to play further forward in recent games and against FCSB, he picked up an assist as well as a goal.
In the process, he became the youngest midfielder (19 years & 286 days) in the club’s history to register a goal and assist in the same game.
With the former Sporting Lisbon boss’ system employing two attacking midfielders, the England international might just have found his new starting position.
Licha on fire again
While the Carrington graduate will rightly take home all the plaudits, Lisandro Martinez’s renaissance in form will also please the head coach.
The Argentine was starting to be written off by critics, especially in the early part of the season. But now that he has started to understand the new system, fans are once again seeing the best of the World Cup winner.
With added protection behind him, Amorim has given him the permission to bomb forward at will to use his impressive passing ability to good use.
His importance could be gauged from the fact that Amorim decided to sub him off in the 71st minute to afford him some rest ahead of the crucial Premier League game against Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Feature image Vasili Mihai-Antonio via Getty Images
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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
