Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim shared his thoughts on his team’s thrilling comeback against Lyon, admitting that once Bruno Fernandes slotted home from the penalty spot, he believed a win was within reach.
United were on the verge of crashing out of the Europa League after going 4-2 down to Lyon, who were a man down, but they rallied to stage a dramatic comeback and in the process, booked their place in the semi-finals.
Manuel Ugarte and Diogo Dalot’s had put United ahead in the first half before those goals were cancelled out by Corentin Tolisso and Nicolas Tagliafico in the second period of the match.
Lyon then stunned United in extra time, as Rayan Cherki and Alexandre Lacazette both found the back of the net.
But, there was still time for United to get back into it and skipper Fernandes set the ball in motion as he converted from the spot, before Kobbie Mainoo smashed in an equaliser in stoppage time. It looked like the game was destined to be settled via a penalty shootout but seconds after Mainoo got on the score sheet, Harry Maguire rose the highest to head in the winning goal.
After the final whistle, a euphoric Amorim spoke to TNT Sports and gave his verdict on the result.
The Red Devils head coach said [as quoted by BBC’s liveblog], “I was watching the 1999 [Treble] documentary to have some inspiration for these moments. It was a great night, the team were tired, 4-2 with one more player, we think it’s over, but here it’s never over.”
“Here everything is possible, you feel the environment. At 4-3, after the Bruno Fernandes penalty, we felt we could change the game.”
On his substitutions, Amorim said, “We tried to put Harry Maguire up front because he is the only one who can score a goal with a header. Kobbie Mainoo has a lack of pace in this moment because of injury, but he’s really good in short spaces.”
Amorim continued, “One moment can change a lot of things in the players’ minds, we have to be really focused on Europa League and take risks sometimes with kids in the Premier League. Fans have to understand that, we have to focus on the Europa League.”
On whether United can go on to win the Europa League, Amorim answered, “Everybody in this moment believes it is possible, we need luck with injuries.”
On what he thought when Maguire clinched the winner, Amorim explained, “The sounds of the stadium was the best ever. Some people collect shirts, scarves, but I want to keep that sound, it’s the best sound in the world.”
“I feel for the people who had to leave at 4-2 because of the traffic, they will be gutted.”
“We know we are underperforming and deserve all the critics, but we have time to make something special of this season.”
“We must recognise the context, we lack a lot of characteristics in our team, physicality is a problem.”
“When we play against European teams we can cope better with that, in Premier League we suffer a lot.”
United are back in action on Sunday when they host Wolverhampton Wanderers. Kick-off is at 14:00 BST.
Featured image Shaun Botterill via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
