Manchester United finished off a dismal Premier League campaign with a 2-0 win against 10-man Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The home side played one of their most fluent attacking games against Villa, and at times, the fans were left wondering where this game was on Wednesday in the Europa League final.
The Red Devils had 25 shots in total, with 10 of them on target, while Villa managed only one effort on target.
The only cause for concern came when Altay Bayindir failed to collect a loose ball and was punished by Morgan Rogers, only for the referee to blow his whistle and spare his blushes.
Red card changed the game
The game turned on its head when a mistake from the Villa backline allowed Rasmus Hojlund the chance to go one-on-one with Emiliano Martinez, who body-blocked him and saw red.
Amad scored the first of the day, rising highest to nod in a header past the Villa substitute keeper before winning a penalty, which was converted by Christian Eriksen, in his last official appearance for the club.
Jonny Evans also got a run out in the second half, and at times the game felt like a testimonial.
What Ruben Amorim will be most pleased about is the use of the wings, especially when Diogo Dalot went off in the second hal and Amad shifted back to wingback.
Wingbacks did the damage
Both the Ivorian and Patrick Dorgu stayed very high and wide on the pitch, which left plenty of gaps for the midfielders to exploit.
Sunday’s game showed how much Amorim’s shape is dependant on wingbacks who can provide the width, which the fullbacks often cannot provide as they are not used to playing so high and wide.
Dorgu, acquired in January, is yet to fully settle into his new surroundings but his engine is impressive and hopefully, the club can recruit someone with a similar profile in January or Amad might have to shift permanently to that position.
The win means the 20-time English league champions finished the league campaign in 15th position and as the head coach said at the end, hopefully after the storm of the current campaign, the good times will now come.
Feature image Alex Livesey 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
