Rúben Amorim has provided an update on Joshua Zirkzee after the Manchester United player hurt his hamstring during a 4-1 loss against Newcastle United.
Manchester United’s struggles continued on Sunday as they fell to a heavy 4-1 defeat against Newcastle United, marking their 14th Premier League loss of the season under Rúben Amorim.
United started with intent and looked the brighter side early on, but it was Newcastle who took the lead after 25 minutes. Alexander Isak picked out Sandro Tonali with a superb lofted pass, and the midfielder made no mistake, firing the hosts ahead.
Despite Newcastle’s dominance in possession, United responded well. A lightning-fast counter-attack saw Alejandro Garnacho finish clinically in the 37th minute to bring the visitors level going into half-time.
But the second half quickly turned into a nightmare for Amorim’s men. Just moments after the restart, Jacob Murphy’s cut-back found Harvey Barnes, who slotted home to restore Newcastle’s lead. Barnes added his second not long after, capitalising on a slip from Noussair Mazraoui to extend the margin.
Bruno Guimarães then put the result beyond doubt, pouncing on a poor pass from Altay Bayındır to make it 4-1 with ten minutes to play. United never recovered, as Newcastle secured a dominant win and deepened the Reds’ growing crisis.
Amorim provides Zirkzee injury update
Shortly after Newcastle regained their lead through Barnes in the second half, Zikrzee found the ball at his feet and made a lung-busting run to just outside the Newcastle area.
However, moments before he was able to unleash a shot on Nick Pope’s goal, he pulled up with an obvious hamstring issue and was immediately replaced by Rasmus Højlund.
Speaking to BeINSports after the fixture, Amorim confirmed that Zirkzee would not be able to face Lyon on Thursday.
Further with MUTV, Amorim then said: “We had to make rotation because we are trying to recover in two days from each game,” he said. “But trying to win this game also.
“Josh, I think he will be out for some games. So, let’s focus on the next one [against Lyon].”
Zirkzee miss a horrid blow for United
Zirkzee’s hamstring injury has left United without their first-choice striker heading into the Europa League clash against Lyon.
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Amid Højlund’s poor form, many at the club now saw the Dutchman as the obvious first-choice to start as United headed into their second-leg Europa League quarter-final fixture.
However, it looks as if Højlund will now get his chance to rectify what many saw as a “pathetic” display during the first leg in France when he lines up at Old Trafford on Thursday evening.
The fixture currently sits at 2-2 ahead of what is undoubtedly one of United’s most important fixtures of Amorim’s tenure so far.
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