Despite coming back from 2-0 down to salvage a 2-2 draw at Everton on Saturday, Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim described his team as “soft” despite coming back strong.
When Everton scored from the penalty spot with goals from Beto and Abdoulaye Doucoure, United looked set for a ninth defeat in 13 Premier League games.
However, Amorim’s men were prevented from falling once more when the visitors were led by captain Bruno Fernandes.
Fernandes curled in a free-kick with United’s first shot on target on 72 minutes.
After another Fernandes set-piece delivery was only partially cleared, Manuel Ugarte leveled shortly after.
However, United were fortunate to escape Goodison Park by scoring because Everton’s penalty was controversially rejected following a VAR review in stoppage time.
The Red Devils are 15 points clear of the bottom three, but they are still in the 15th place, so they shouldn’t suffer the humiliation of relegation.
The worst aspect is that we are not acting as required and are losing the ball without pressure. We were soft”, said Amorim, who has taken just 15 points from a possible 45 since taking charge in November.
“In this moment, we need to focus on day-by-day. We must survive this season before we can plan ahead.
“I don’t want to just say the negative part. We were on the verge of winning this game in the second half. ”
In contrast to United’s struggles under new management, David Moyes’ return has propelled Everton towards safety.
When the former United boss returned last month, the Toffees were at odds with themselves for the title, but they have now accumulated 14 points from their last six games to move up to 12th.
After a dominant opening half, Moyes was disappointed not to take all three points, but he credited Fernandes with helping turn things around after the break.
“We should have been probably three up, I think if we’d been three up we wouldn’t be shamed by that at all,” said the Scot.
“To go 2-0 up was great, but 2-0 is always a dangerous position to be in as a manager. Manchester United needs to step up and make a move.
“I don’t think it was as much as what we lacked, I thought Bruno played well. He was much more aggressive and they dropped him, which was something we found a little more difficult to deal with at the time. ”
However, Moyes was left perplexed by the late decision to request that referee Andy Madley review Ashley Young’s penalty appeal after Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt combinedly won the match.
“I thought the on-field decision looked the correct decision,” added Moyes.
I thought it might be difficult to change your mind about that, so I was surprised that he was asked to attend VAR.
Source: Channels TV
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