Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United tenure began with a point on the road on Sunday, when United were held to a 1-1 draw at Portman Road against Ipswich Town.
United burst into the lead after 85 seconds when a mesmeric Amad Diallo sprint down the right flank was whipped into Marcus Rashford, who guided it past Arijanet Muric from 6 yards; a dream start for the Portuguese manager.
Onana in first-half action
Andre Onana was called into action as the hosts grew into the game in search of an equaliser. Irish international Sammie Szmodics smashed a powerful daisy-cutter goalward, but Onana got down swiftly to deny him.
Moments later Liam Delap found space and struck from close range, the Cameroonian answered with arguably the save of the season so far getting, a closed fist to Delap’s strike.
Onana’s heroics were cut short minutes before half time, when 21-year-old Omari Hutchinson broke loose freely and released a left footed curler goal-bound; Noussair Mazraoui’s effort to clear unfortunately altered the flight of the ball slightly, allowing Hutchinson’s shot the momentum to fly past Onana.
A frustrating Second half
United almost mimicked their first-half quick lead start after Alejandro Garnacho was put through seconds from the restart, but Muric cleared the lacklustre effort with ease.
Amorim made his first change of the afternoon in a bid for fresh legs, swapping out Casemiro and Jonny Evans for Manuel Ugarte and Luke Shaw.
The Tractor Boys flung a smart ball into the box, which was met with a sneaky flick from Delap, but that was not enough to catch the confident keeper off guard; Onana’s reactions simply too sharp as his quick feet cleared the ball to safety.
United opted for an attacking push in a bid to grab the winner towards the end as attacking duo Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund replaced Christian Eriksen and Marcus Rashford.
Both line-ups went blow-for-blow in search of a winner as the game edged towards the final whistle. The frantic finish was end-to-end more so that Ipswich had the opportunity to grab all three points when Charlie Chaplin rushed onto a snapshot, but Onana collected calmly again.
United pushed late for a winner, but it was to no avail and Amorim’s debut ended all square.
Player Ratings & MOTM
Andre Onana – 8.5 & MOTM: Unfortunate with the deflection from Mazraoui for the goal, made two-point blank saves and overall looked calm and composed between the sticks.
Nossair Mazraoui – 7: Slotted well into the back 3, controlled chunks of the game with 104 passes completed.
Matthijs De Ligt - 5: Liam Delap ran rings round the Dutch defender.
Jonny Evans – 5: Not good enough on this occasion for Jonny, struggled with the change in formation.
Amad Diallo – 7: Electric from the get-go, continues to shine; excellent run for the opening goal.
Eriksen – 4: Overrun in midfield did not have the legs.
Fernandes – 5: Not involved that much and spent a lot of time complaining.
Casemiro – 4: Looked like a lazy effort to stop Hutchinson for the goal over run in midfield.
Diogo Dalot – 5: Wasteful with a huge opportunity, unfortunately not his best performance but not his worst.
Alejandro Garnacho – 5: Wasteful with an opportunity in the counter could have squared it to Bruno Fernandes earlier for an easy goal, question marks on his decision-making.
Marcus Rashford 6 – Did little of note after the goal.
Subs:
Manuel Ugarte – 6: Brought much-needed legs to the midfield.
Luke Shaw – 5: First appearance of the season; unfit as expected.
Joshua Zirkzee – 4: Woeful effort on goal.
Rasmus Hojlund – 5: Did not get many chances, done well to win a free kick in a neat position.
Mason Mount N/A.
Ste Howson reacts to Ipswich 1-1 Manchester United
Looking forward
Manchester United will turn their focus to the Europa League on Thursday night, where we welcome Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt to Old Trafford. United currently sit 15th in the Europa League with six points.
Sunday poses another tough fixture in the Premier league as Amorim’s side host Everton at Old Trafford. The Portuguese will be desperate for his first win in England, as United currently sit in a worrying 12th on just 16 points.