The banner in the Stretford End was written in Ruben Amorim’s native Portuguese. “Bem vindo a casa,” it read. Welcome home.
Some 25 minutes into his first game at Old Trafford, Manchester United’s new head coach may have wondered if the welcome constituted more of a warning. His new side were losing 2-1 to a club from inside the Arctic Circle, the self-destructive streak that marred Erik ten Hag’s reign apparent as they conceded twice to Bodo/Glimt, a result every bit as excruciating as the worst under his predecessor on the cards. Amorim had traded a club second in the Champions League for one who, if only briefly, stood 19th in the Europa League standings. United looked experts in embarrassing themselves.
When the final whistle blew, Amorim at least had a first win under his belt. He will hope for more convincing victories; less chaotic ones, too. But he appreciated his reception. “Half of the stadium doesn’t know me, I came from Portugal and I did nothing for this club. Yet the way they make me feel at home is special,” he said. “I felt I am not alone now, I am one of them.”
An eventful evening also offered some encouragement on the pitch, some sense that, amid an awkward beginning, there are players responding to the regime change.
Chief among them is Rasmus Hojlund. Dropped for Amorim’s debut in charge, the Dane responded on his recall. He set up the first-minute opener – swift starts form one of the better parts of Amorim’s early days, even if United then have a tendency to then lose their way – and delivered a match-winning brace thereafter. The Portuguese has noted United’s slender returns in the Premier League, where they are barely averaging a goal a game. He is determined to get more of an end product from his current forwards. Hojlund was one of those he named and the Dane duly ended his seven-game goal drought.
“He is a quality player,” said Amorim. “He scores the most difficult goals.” Perhaps the task then is to get the easier ones. Amorim has made a Scandinavian striker prolific, in the much-coveted Viktor Gyokeres. This was an early sign he may have a transformative effect on another.
There was also a dynamic display from Alejandro Garnacho, the scorer of one of United’s fastest ever goals in Europe, even if he was profligate thereafter. Mason Mount, a player Amorim has said he loves, marked his first start since August with an influential performance: having a shot cleared off the line, clipping the bar, providing a lovely flick in the build-up to Hojlund’s winner.
But set against all of that was the glaring evidence of the problems Amorim inherited. A change of manager has not striped United of their fragility and, for the sixth time since the beginning of last season, they contrived to concede twice in 10 or fewer minutes of a European game. “A real ride,” added Amorim. “We started well but suffered two goals in transitions.” They came within five minutes.
Bodo/Glimt may be closing in on the Norwegian title but they were a second-division club seven years ago. Their annual budget is around one-thirtieth of United’s. And yet, for a heady 20 minutes, they led at Old Trafford. The most famous result in their history was a 6-1 demolition of Jose Mourinho’s Roma. This seemed set to supersede that.
If the north of Norway was still emptier than usual, it was because some 6,700 fans came for the biggest game in Bodo/Glimt’s history. They represented the biggest travelling army for a European away game at Old Trafford. They had much to cheer.
Their side attacked with a confidence and finished with precision with Hakon Evjen’s 20-yard shot taking Andre Onana aback as it nestled in the top right corner of his net. He was teed up by Sondre Brunstad Fet, but Bruno Fernandes had not tracked back. It highlighted the downside of using the captain in the central midfield duo, as Amorim had.
Then Philipp Zinckernagel outpaced Tyrell Malacia, the Dutchman looking rusty on his first senior United appearance in 550 days, to slot a shot beyond Onana. With Matthijs de Ligt too slow to cover for Malacia, it was far too easy. It represented the first time a specialist left-back started for United this season but Malacia’s involvement was ended after a troubled 45 minutes. On the other flank, Antony, the £85m misfit of a winger, did not excel as a wing-back either.
Amorim had promised to rotate and made six changes. Two came in the front three and United’s forwards gave them a flying start and a happy end. They scored after 81 seconds of Amorim’s bow. They were twice as fast on his first home game, goalkeeper Nikita Haikin misjudging Jostein Gundersen’s pass back, allowing Hojlund to slide in and challenge him. It gifted Garnacho an open goal. And then, as at Ipswich, the supporters serenaded the new manager.
But, once again, United saw their advantage cancelled out before, for the first time under Amorim, they trailed. Hojlund served as their rescuer. “For the goals, he was aggressive in the box,” said Amorim. Hojlund hooked in a volley on the stroke of half-time, after taking a deft touch to control Noussair Mazraoui’s cross, and then converted Manuel Ugarte’s low centre.
Amorim had an input. “The manager told me at half-time to stick to running at the near post and we saw with the third goal how it worked out,” said Hojlund. There was a suspicion of offside but the goal stood and, after some saves from Onana, United won. They are up to 12th in the Europa League. Amorim has been in better positions, but United have been in worse ones.