Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has praised Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu for his honesty during our 4-1 Europa League success over Real Sociedad.

The Reds booked a place in the last eight of the competition thanks to a 5-2 aggregate win over the Basque outfit, with our winter-window signing in fine form.

Dorgu was an ever-present threat down the left flank and could have netted his first goal for the club, while also forcing the red card for Jon Aramburu.

After earlier earning a penalty, Dorgu was hauled down for a second time, by Hamari Traore to seemingly earn the Reds a third spot-kick, only for his honesty to get the better of him.

Amorim discussed the matter in his post-match press conference, among other things, and below you can read everything he had to say…

I want to ask about Patrick Dorgu and his performance, he seems to have good end product and also the fact he was telling the referee he didn’t think it was a penalty that he’d won, so as a manager, do you like to see that?

I felt like Joshua Zirkzee has his best game for United, I do not know if you agree, but in that number-10 role it maybe seems to unleash what he can do with the ball in and out of possession. What did you think to his performance?

“He did really well and, when we lost some of the control of the game, it was our fault. I think we did a very completed exhibition, he did quite well one against one in the back, we tried to play and we showed some moments and Josh [Zirkzee] showed that, he is more aggressive when he doesn’t have the ball and he is improving without the ball. But [that] can help Joshua a lot without the ball, he has the talent. In some plays, I think he can be more direct and he has a lot of class, touching the ball but sometimes he has to think more as a striker, no matter what. It doesn’t need to be the most beautiful goal with all the control, but he is improving.”

Congratulations Ruben. Was that the most complete or best performance from your side since you have come in, given the injuries and the outside noise with everything, so how impressed are you?

“I felt, during the week, that we showed we can play these kind of games and I think our exhibition against Arsenal was not beautiful, but it helped a lot and, in that second half, we needed to believe. I felt that the team, even before the match, was full of confidence. We suffered a goal but we continued to play the same thing and that can show, since the first minute, we believe that we can go to the next stage. This is also a different competition. I think that the physicality of our team made a great difference in these two games.”

Ruben, after the first game in Spain, what have been the improvements from your team, in a tactical point of view in relation to the other games?

“We have more time to think. We usually press a little bit higher and, today, we had more time to think. We suffer a lot in some games in the league with the physicality. We felt that we could let three against three in front because we feel that, with our physicality, we can recover positions and deal with the players one against one. Everything in this game helped us to play better, with the ball and without the ball.”

Casemiro got a huge ovation as he left the pitch. What’s been behind his improvement in the last few weeks?

“I think he is improving his game and I am improving the way I should use a player like Casemiro. I am not trying to put Casemiro pressing really high. Our team, you feel, is more connected in defending, that can help a lot because he is so smart and intelligent at reading the game, in short spaces he can understand where the ball is going. It is everything together and the team is better and can play better and understand the characteristics of the players and, combined, it can help us to win games.”

‘Dorgu was everywhere!’ Video

Carl Anka, journalist from The Athletic, was hugely impressed by Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu…

Congratulations. How important tonight was it to not only win the game but also for your season to stay alive?

“The feeling with the fans, the noise, it is hard to explain. You feel it with confidence from the supporters, the players and it was a really good night. We have this competition, we have the Premier League that gives us a lot of energy and confidence to go to our games. We feel we can go to the next stage and we believe we can go to another stage. This week was a different week. We dealt with a lot of problems of the present and with the future, we have showed it is not finished because we have another game on Sunday [at Leicester City]. This game today was really good for everybody in the club, the staff, the players and, especially, the fans.”

You can finally enjoy a game!

“The feeling is completely different. Not just the result, but they way we play. It is the same job but it is completely different. The good thing and the bad thing after this game is that it is over and, tomorrow, we are going to think about how Sunday is going to be hard. The next game in the Premier League.”

Can I ask you about the three penalties. Would you be angry if your team had conceded that goal?

“I have not seen the image, the last one was Patrick [Dorgu]. You will have to ask Patrick if it is not a penalty. The thing is I never speak about it, and we had the opposite, but where there is no penalty, there is no penalty. That is it and I think VAR brings more fairness to the game. But I didn’t see clearly the image.”

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Casemiro was given a huge round of applause when being substituted against Real Sociedad, with Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim pleased with the Brazilian’s fine current form.

The serial winner has retained his huge popularity within Old Trafford but lost his place in the XI recently, only to show his character and determination to again become an important cog in the system.

Another polished display against Real Sociedad, in the 4-1 victory that sets up a last-eight tie against Lyon in the Europa League, the 33-year-old was discussed after the game, with Ruben admitting he has had to learn how to get the best out of the South American.

“I think I’m also learning how to use players like Casemiro and, like you said, without a lot of options, we are trying to put our players in the best positions and that helps us a lot,” he told TNT Sports. “I think you can feel that they have more freedom and then because of one game in Spain that we try to use the pace of [Alejandro] Garnacho, on the right, and he showed me so many things on the right, maybe better than the left.

“So I’m trying to find the best solution for the team, and that helps us to play all the time with the same team. It was hard, sometimes we lost some pace in the end of the games, but we are learning.

“I think Casemiro gave us a little bit of calm. Sometimes, he takes a little bit long when he was not playing too much, you feel it in the game against Newcastle. The pace was not there but he is giving that first moment of build-up, and then you can push Bruno [Fernandes] near the goal, so he’s dangerous there.”

In a separate interview with beIN Sports, Amorim said he expects Casemiro to feature again, in Sunday night’s game at Leicester City, before the Premier League pauses for an international break.

“I think he showed he played really well,” the boss added. “He was so tired because of all these games and he will be ready for the next one.

“I think he did a great exhibition – not just this last game, the others too. I think he was really important in the moment for us.”

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Manchester United marched through to the quarter-final stage of the Europa League with a 4-1 second-leg win against Real Sociedad at Old Trafford – and one man stole the show.

Bruno Fernandes was our hat-trick hero under the floodlights in M16, levelling La Real’s opening penalty with a spot-kick of his own in the first half, before sending us into the lead, once again from 12 yards, on the other side of the interval.

His night wasn’t done, though. Running himself into the ground for the team until the very last, our captain latched onto Alejandro Garnacho’s through ball in the final few minutes of the game to extend the margin even further, before countryman Diogo Dalot notched the final goal of the game.

But with a performance like Bruno’s, there was only ever going to be one winner of our fan poll, earning a resounding 79 per cent of your votes.

But, the typical leader he is, the Portugal international was focused solely on what this result, and performance, meant for the team after the full-time whistle.

“I think confidence is a big thing in football,” Fernandes told TNT Sports. “And at this club even more, because you know how much you are on the eyes of everyone, so you need to perform always at the highest level to have your confidence.

“But the main thing is we have to back ourselves, in the dressing room, on the training ground.

“Everyone has to understand we are here for each other.”

Despite an incredible outing, the 30-year-old knows the work is only just starting.

He continued: “Yeah, I think you can see it at times [the progress]. Not yet, I think the way the manager wants and we want. We’re making very good progress, but as I said, the progress will be seen if we get results.

“This club is all about results.”

With Thursday night’s work, the midfielder certainly ticked off one result on that road to progress, and he more than earned our Man of the Match award in the process.

Congratulations, Bruno! Thank you to all those who voted.

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