Manchester United overcame a two-goal deficit to earn an improbable point against Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday thanks to a spectacular comeback in the second half.
The visitors gave up two goals due to utterly preventable errors at the back in yet another terrible first half, and it appeared like another league loss was imminent at halftime.
With his continuous selection of Casemiro, Diogo Dalot, and Rasmus Hojlund hardly making sense, Ruben Amorim spent the majority of the first forty-five minutes with his head in his hands.
Up until United’s first goal, the defense was dreadful. Matthijs de Ligt appeared scared everytime he had the ball under pressure, while Harry Maguire lost nearly every aerial duel.
Startling from behind the Portuguese right wingback, however, was the poorest of the lot; he missed opportunities to clear the ball, which gave the home team the first goal, but he was completely absent from the assault as usual.
Amorim continues to push him, but he is unable to cope with the demands of playing wingback, and the head coach, who is in dire need of a right wingback and a striker, cannot wait for the summer window to open.
Given that Amad is gone for the season, the away supporters must have been wondering who would spark the team’s assault. Hojlund constructed an anonymous display once more.
Bruno Fernandes took the initiative, as he has done for the past five years. To instill hope in the away supporters and provide much-needed confidence to a struggling group of players, the captain sent a free kick to draw one back for United.
Once more, Bruno comes to the rescue.Shortly after, Manuel Ugarte, who had returned, scored a magnificent equalizer by slamming a half-volley past Jordan Pickford from the edge of the box.
The fact that the Portuguese is the lone top player in that team despite his tendency to try Hollywood passes rather than keep things simple has been criticized frequently.
This team wouldn’t be able to stay in the league without him. He started the game as a No. 10 on Saturday, but after Casemiro left, he took over as the deep-lying playmaker, occasionally nearly playing box-to-box.
In order to keep the team from being relegated, Amorim needs to have more guts and start Carrington graduates rather than a few underperforming players.