Manchester United star slammed for being “non-existent” vs Rangers, he had fewer touches than Altay Bayındır

One Manchester United player has been slammed for being “non-existent” against Rangers after recording fewer touches than Altay Bayındır on Thursday evening.

Manchester United snatched a dramatic Europa League victory against Rangers as Bruno Fernandes scored a stoppage-time winner at Old Trafford.

A cautious first half saw few clear chances, with Matthijs de Ligt’s header controversially ruled out. Amad and Joshua Zirkzee came close, but the sides remained level at the break.

United took the lead when Rangers goalkeeper Jack Butland misjudged a Christian Eriksen corner, punching it into his own net. Alejandro Garnacho hit the post before Cyriel Dessers equalised late on.

However, in added time, Lisandro Martínez delivered a perfect cross, and Fernandes fired home to secure all three points for Rúben Amorim’s side.

Zirkzee slammed for display vs Rangers

After coming off the bench in his previous five appearances, Zirkzee has started two games in a row against Brighton and Rangers, but failed to impress on Thursday evening as Garnacho and Fernandes received the praise for their attacking performances.

Zirkzee played 82 minutes against the Scottish club but recorded just 26 touches, which is far fewer than even goalkeeper Altay Bayındır on the night.

Commenting on Zirkzee’s performance, former Rangers striker Ally McCoist said on TNT Sports: “I think he’s done alright Zirkzee, but I’ll say it again: I think from Manchester United’s point of view you’d like to see more of a goalscoring threat as well as he played.”

However, former United centre-back Rio Ferdinand disagreed, saying: “I thought he was non-existent in the first half to be honest but I thought he improved in the second half.

“He still wasn’t a real threat on the goal but they got their goal in the end.”

Amorim has a big striker headache

Zirkzee has been good off the bench at times and was instrumental in the wins against Arsenal and Southampton earlier this month, but he has so far failed to impress when playing from the start.

Read More: Rio Ferdinand left stunned at just how good Manchester United star is under Rúben Amorim

The issue is that the same can be applied to United’s other striker, Rasmus Højlund. The Danish international scored 16 goals last campaign and has notched five under Amorim, but all of these have come in just three games.

Both Højlund and Zirkzee have been good from the bench but have failed to play well over a 90 minute game, which leaves the head coach with a huge headache.

It feels as if United are playing without much of a direct goal-scoring threat, but having spent in excess of £100 million on the pair in the last 18 months, you’d expect more.

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