Penalty verdict and Hojlund demand as Manchester United rescue draw at Everton
United came away from their final trip to Goodison Park with a point
Manchester United came away from their final trip to Everton's Goodison Park with a point on Saturday afternoon, salvaging a point after enduring a torrid first half - and United fans in the Manchester Evening News comments section are calling for Ruben Amorim to make one change as the club continue to languish in the bottom half.
Poor defending allowed Everton's Beto and Abdoulaye Doucoure to put two past Andre Onana in the first half, with little sign that United were capable of summoning anything up to compete and equalise. The team emerged in the second half with more urgency, and Bruno Fernandes scored a free kick to give some hope of a comeback to his teammates.
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Manuel Ugarte volleyed home to make it 2-2, and as both teams chased the winner, Ashley Young was denied a penalty by VAR after going down in the box. It was another game where Manchester United made a slow start, and had to push hard to catch up with their opponents.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Bruno Fernandes revealed how Ruben Amorim directed his players in the second half: "The manager was very upset with us. We had to try and stick to the plan and to try and make it work. Even if things are not going well, we have to stick to what our ideas are, and that is what we did in the second half; we had much more freedom, much more movement. We were 2-0 down and had nothing to lose, and we got more into the game."
Rasmus Hojlund has come under particular scrutiny lately. Reader John198 - âIf weâre honest we deserved nothing from this game and, it was a penalty. Weâre even worse under Amorim but the players are awful, they wonât run, lack heart, desire, effort, and quality.
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"Fernandez and Ugarte were both awful before their goals. Ugarte looks like a pub team player. Iâd rather the young kid [Chido Obi-Martin] play up front instead of Hojlund, who is completely useless.â
Commenter Boasy wants to see widespread change too: âUnited have no defence, no midfield or attack. They need 7 or 8 new players to get back to being competitive. Instead of playing the youth like Kone, Lenny, Ayden, Chido etc., Amorim continues to rely on half-baked stars on their last legs.
"How many chances can he afford this lot before he realises his job could possibly be on the line should United start slowly next season? As long as Amorim continues to mess around, then United will continue to be awful to watch and this is eating through his credit like nothing else.â
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Jhonn writes: âPlay Hojlund in the reserves or loan him out. Or send him on vacation. Nobody gains anything by playing him. Sure, the opponents do, but....â
MickShaw says: âBetter second half, Hojlund needs to be dropped, he is looking more shocking every week, give Obi a run now. Casemiro has no legs and should not be a starter again, keeper once againfails to catch the ball when he should. Yes he made one good save, but one is not good enough."
Karamazov writes: âMust be the last time we see Hoijlund - in over 50 years, and even considering what is possibly the worst team since '74, Iâve never seen a worse centre forward at United.â
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The late penalty incident raised blood pressure too, with Petewright saying: âIt would've been a bit of a soft pen but surprised the ref changed his mind, although it wouldn't have mattered if Onana hadn't pushed the ball straight out into the danger zone as he usually does. Good effort from Dorgu and Fernandes today, most of the others either very average or terrible (De Ligt and Maguire both dismal).â
Redpep writes: "Firstly I thought it was a penalty, if thereâs no VAR itâs a pen. But what a dive by Young. How many times during games do you see players shoving & pulling? There was minimal contact and Young threw himself forward... If that was the other way around with Everton, the fans would be shouting 'no penalty'. And if it was given to United, Everton fans would be well aggrieved and rightly so."
Have your say! What must change for the next Premier League outing? Comment below, and join in on the conversation.