Ipswich 1-1 Man Utd: Red Devils ‘look a better side’ but Ruben Amorim learns task ahead of him | OneFootball

Ruben Amorim was given an immediate lesson about the job ahead of him at Manchester United, who drew 1-1 away at Ipswich Town in his first game in charge on Sunday.

The Portuguese coach arrived at Old Trafford to much fanfare after leading Sporting CP to two league titles and two cups in four years. His seat was suitably warmed up by Ruud van Nistelrooy, who won three and drew one of four games as interim manager following a run of just one win in Erik ten Hag’s last eight.

Amorim couldn’t have wished for a better start, with Marcus Rashford finding the net within just two minutes of Sunday’s clash at Portman Road after being fed by Amad Diallo. Immediately, United supporters were singing their new manager’s name and probably dreaming about what sort of scoreline they could run up on his debut.

However, that’s where United’s dominance of the match ended. In fact, it was Ipswich who then went into the ascendency.

United had goalkeeper Andre Onana to thank for maintaining their lead as long as they did, with the Cameroon international making some wonderful saves, including an outstretched arm to deny Liam Delap one-on-one in the 40th minute.

But Ipswich were not to be denied and just three minutes later, Omari Hutchinson levelled the score in style, turning onto his left foot and unleashing a powerful effort into the top corner — with a little help from a Noussair Mazraoui deflection — for his first Premier League goal of the season.

Ipswich came out quickly in the second half, too, with Onana once again pulling off some heroics to keep the scores level; it was Delap most frustrated again in the 52nd minute.

“The way that Manchester United started this game Ruben Amorim would have been thinking, ‘Ok, this is perfect.’ Since then they have not been at the same level, they have dropped off a little bit. Ipswich have also improved as the game has gone on,” former Premier League goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer told BBC Radio 5 Live.

To Amorim’s credit, he was bold in his substitutions, bringing on both Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund in the 68th minute in a bid to liven up the United attack and adequately test the Ipswich backline.

From that moment on, United were the team most likely to find a winner, camping outside the Ipswich box and peppering Arijanet Muric’s goal with some decent efforts.

Ultimately, however, United were unable to make the breakthrough and Amorim will have to settle for a draw in his first game in charge of the Red Devils, with enough positives to take away on the day.

“If I was a Manchester United fan I would be sat there thinking about how Ruben Amorim has worked with these players for a matter of days and you can already see a style of play,” Schwarzer observed. “You can see a distinct idea and the players are buying into it. They look a better side for it.

“So I would be confident moving forward that given a lot more time what he could possibly do for this team.”

The point keeps his new side rooted in the bottom half of the Premier League table, sitting 12th with just 16 points on the board, six adrift of the Champions League places.

The major positive for Amorim is that the games come thick and fast from here, giving him plenty of opportunities to test out his new squad. Up next is a Europa League clash against Bodo/Glimt and a Premier League outing against Everton — both at home — before a testing festive schedule that includes fixtures against Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham in the EFL Cup and Newcastle United.

Amorim is no doubt a realist, but Sunday afternoon will have served to paint a clearer picture of the sort of beast he’s taken on in Manchester United.