“Very good…” Rúben Amorim names three ways Manchester United improved vs Arsenal

Rúben Amorim has highlighted three ways he feels his side has improved following Manchester United’s FA Cup penalty shootout over Arsenal on Sunday evening.

Manchester United secured their spot in the FA Cup fourth round after edging Arsenal in a tense penalty shootout on Sunday afternoon.

The game began with Arsenal dominating possession and dictating the early pace. Gabriel Martinelli appeared to give the Gunners the lead after 20 minutes, but his effort was ruled out for offside, much to the frustration of the home crowd.

United weathered the early storm and found their breakthrough shortly after the break. Bruno Fernandes displayed his trademark composure, latching onto Alejandro Garnacho’s precise pass and firing past David Raya to put United ahead.

The match took a dramatic turn with 30 minutes to play. Diogo Dalot was shown a second yellow card, reducing United to 10 men. Arsenal quickly responded as Gabriel Magalhães hammered home the equaliser. Moments later, the Gunners were awarded a penalty following a foul on Kai Havertz, but Altay Bayındır made a spectacular save to deny Martin Ødegaard.

With the score level at 1-1 after 90 minutes, the match headed into extra time. Both sides battled fiercely, but neither could find a decisive goal, sending the tie to a penalty shootout.

United were clinical from the spot, converting all five of their penalties. Bayındır, already the hero in normal time, delivered again by saving Havertz’s penalty to seal a 5-4 victory and send Manchester United into the FA Cup fourth round.

Amorim has seen three improvements in United

The club’s win over Arsenal is already significant enough. Still, many have also pointed out that it shows a mark of improvement, considering that United lost 2-0 against Arsenal in the same stadium five weeks ago.

Amorim was asked about this in his post-match press conference, and the 39-year-old was keen to agree, explaining that he feels United showed improvement in their set-pieces, their spirit, and improvement on the ball.

“I think we play, especially in the first half, we play better [than] in the first game,” Amorim said after the game. “We were better in set pieces today, more aggressive.

“We show different spirit, even with ten men. We are improving on that aspect. I think we had a lot of difficulties in the beginning of the game to control the game with the ball, and then we suffered, not big opportunities, but we suffered running after the ball, especially to switch of play, to win the first pressure of Arsenal.

“But then we can take in this moment, take the game to a different level when we talk about aggressivity. And that is a very good thing.

“We managed to score and then I felt in that moment we were able to improve with the ball, but with the [player] sent off [it] was really hard on us. And then we suffered all together, defending very well, with some opportunities from Arsenal.

“The players were really tired, but I felt since the first minute that today was our day. And I felt also a connection with our fans, our staff. It was a very good day for us in that aspect. We need to improve the way we play football.”

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