Ipswich Town 1-1 Manchester United: Amorim's tenure begins with lacklustre draw
Manchester United had to settle for a 1-1 draw against Ipswich Town in Portuguese coach Ruben Amorim's first match in charge, as Marcus Rashford's early goal was cancelled out by a deflected shot from Omari Hutchinson in Sunday's Premier League game.
There was an electrifying atmosphere at Portman Road, but United hushed the home supporters just 81 seconds as Rashford stole in between two defenders to guide the ball home following Amad's superb run down the right flank.
As halftime approached, United goalkeeper Andre Onana made a great one-handed save to deny Liam Delap, but Ipswich equalised in the 43rd minute when Hutchinson curled a shot into the top corner, assisted by a deflection from visiting defender Noussair Mazraoui.
After the halftime, Ipswich striker Sam Szmodics nearly scored with a back-heel that Onana stopped with his feet, but neither team was able to pull out the victory. The outcome places United in 12th place with 16 points, six points below the top four. Ipswich are 18th with nine.
"They are very good players, but we need to improve physically, technically, and tactically, and we need time to do that," Amorim remarked, as the gravity of the task before of him at United was highlighted once more by a disappointing performance.
Jonny Evans, Christian Eriksen, and Alejandro Garnacho returned to the starting lineup as 39-year-old Amorim made three changes from the win against Leicester City in their penultimate encounter under interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy two weeks ago.
Amorim replaced Erik ten Hag after the Dutchman was fired, and United supporters were eager to see how he would modify the team as the former Sporting coach attempts to restore success to the Old Trafford club after years of underachievement.
Before kickoff, United's players huddled and then began in a 3-4-2-1 shape, with Mazraoui in the back three with Matthijs de Ligt and Evans.
United made their first league visit to Ipswich in 22 years, with Van Nistelrooy scoring the solitary goal that day, but the hosts were stunned as Rashford put the visitors ahead.
Amorim did not grin after the goal, knowing there was still a long way to go and a lot of work to be done, but United fans were already shouting the Portuguese coach's name.
Ipswich traded blows with United as they attempted to level the score, and after Eriksen sent a low shot wide, Szmodics fired over for the hosts. Garnacho also had a low effort go past the post before Hutchinson's attempt was blocked.
Then, five minutes before halftime, Onana produced an outstanding save to deny Delap from close range following excellent work down the left by Leif Davis, who crossed the ball into the area.
It didn't take long for Ipswich to equalise, and this time Onana couldn't stop Hutchinson's deflected curler, which found the top corner and delighted singer Ed Sheeran and the rest of the home crowd.
Ipswich striker Szmodics almost put the hosts ahead with a superb back-heel from close range seven minutes into the second half, as the Blues hoped to capture three points.
The closest United got after that was a Fernandes free kick that went wide, and Ipswich almost got the win but Conor Chaplin's sidefoot flew directly at Onana following a cross from fellow replacement Jack Clarke.
Despite United's quick start, a draw seemed like the ideal outcome. It's been 11 years since they won the Premier League under Alex Ferguson, and after this latest underwhelming performance, Amorim has a lot of work to do to make them contenders again.
SportsLigue