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Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has criticised his players for another defensive error, despite their resilient fightback to secure a “deserved” point against Bournemouth.
Rasmus Hojlund equalised deep into added time as United took advantage of Evanilson’s dismissal to scrape a 1-1 draw at the Vitality Stadium.
The Red Devils were on course for a 16th loss of the Premier League season after gifting Antoine Semenyo an easy opener in the first half.
Luke Shaw’s pass to an under-pressure Patrick Dorgu saw the latter dispossessed, and seconds later, the ball was in the back of Andre Onana’s net.
After the final whistle, Amorim told BBC Match of the Day that his team did not deserve to lose based on the overall performance, but he was frustrated with the way Semenyo was allowed to score.
Amorim said, “I think [we deserved it]. In the first half we suffered with their high-intensity press, but we created chances.”
“We had quite similar chances near the box with a lot of shots. I think we deserved at least one point if you look at the game.”
“If you look at our last games, it’s always like this – we do something to help the opponent get an advantage. Then it’s really hard to score goals, but the players did really well to get at least one point.”
“We have the ability to push our opponents. There are small things I think we can do better. We need to understand these moments better, but if you look at the 20 minutes [after Evanilson’s red card], we had situations to score, which is really important.”
On Hojlund, the 40-year-old coach remarked, “I will not say [he is] relaxed, but he could be a little bit lighter during the week. He now needs to score many more.”
On Shaw starting for the first time since February last year, Amorim said, “It’s really important. Of course we need to be careful with his availability. [After the red card], he was the guy to overload that side. He has quality in the last third, he has a good pass.”
Amorim emphasised the win could give United some much-needed confidence ahead of their crunch Europa League meeting with Athletic Bilbao on Thursday.
“We’ve lost two points. We didn’t win, but it doesn’t matter – it’s a different competition.”
Amorim also spoke to Sky Sports and explained, “Was one point. We could do better, We created chances but we need to do better near the box. It is small things. We have to understand the foot that is in play, crossing, one v ones. We need to understand the game in that way.”
“Today we pushed our opponent, especially after the sending off. We had the chances but again we didn’t score.”
He added about Hojlund, “It is always important for strikers to score. But when we look at the game as a striker it is not just the goals. It is a good boost but the next game is a new history and we have to go again.”
“The way Bournemouth defend is quite similar to we can take things from this game [Athletic Bilbao]. But again it is a new history and we must do better.”
Amorim refused to give his opinion on whether or not Evanilson deserved the red card. The United head coach simply said he does not comment on red cards.
Feature image Dan Mullan via Getty Images
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