Man Utd let a winning position slip against West Ham at Old Trafford and Ruben Amorim was furious at the goal they conceded.
Ruben Amorim slammed Manchester United’s inability to win second balls against West Ham and the way they gifted the visitors a corner which led to their equaliser at Old Trafford.
United took the lead in a scrappy game through Diogo Dalot’s goal just before the hour mark and a win would have taken them fifth in the Premier League, but they failed to see the game out as Soungoutou Magassa equalised seven minutes from time.
That goal came from a corner, with Noussair Mazraoui clearing Jarrod Bowen’s initial header off the line before Magassa turned in the rebound, but Amorim was more frustrated at the soft concession of the corner.
The Hammers had a clear height advantage against United, who seemed to be under no threat when a long ball was sent into their half, but Leny Yoro failed to win the header and they ended up giving a crucial corner away.
“Second ball is sometimes a tactical thing, we try to adjust with the players that we put in and then we control.,” said Amorim. “In the final minutes we had the possession, the ball was far from the opponent, it was not a clear full press from the opponent.
“We cannot let a team that is so much taller than us to have a corner when the ball is in the goalkeeper. This kind of detail makes the difference and today a corner in the second half made the difference.”
It continued United’s wretched second-half record in the Premier League this season. The two goals they scored at Crystal Palace at the weekend is the only time they have won a second half this season and Amorim accepts they must improve after the break.
“There are second halves that we lost control of the game today, I think it was not that case,” he said. “Maybe after the first goal we lost some second balls and Matheus won one or two second balls there and made a transition.
“We tried to defend all the time, far from the goal because we knew it. They tried to make a cross, win a corner. It happened. Long ball, they win a second ball against three guys of us in the defence. So we need to be better in second halves.”
United’s goal came from Casemiro’s deflected shot falling kindly for Dalot, but they struggled to create much aside from that. Bryan Mbeumo had a shot turned away by Alphonse Areola and Joshua Zirkzee had an effort cleared off the line by Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
They continue to struggle to create chances from open play and Amorim knows goalscoring is an area that has to improve, given their propensity for failing to see out leads.
“I always have the feeling that everyone has the feeling that we need to score more goals and nothing is sure,” he said. “Even with Brighton, we were 3-0 and then suddenly, so we suffer with that. We are inconsistent, we need to improve.”
