MANCHESTER, England: Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim believes his team needs to show more maturity after squandering a lead in a 1-1 draw against Fulham late last night, thus remaining without a win this season.
The Red Devils were punished for failing to capitalise on their possession in the first half, including Bruno Fernandes’ failure to convert a penalty kick by shooting the ball high.
However, what worried Amorim more was his team’s reaction after taking the lead through Rodrigo Muniz’s own goal in the 60th minute.
Fulham came back to equalize through Emile Smith Rowe 17 minutes from time and closed the match with more control of the game.
“I think we scored and then we forgot how to play,” said Amorim, who has won just seven of his 29 Premier League games as manager.
“We were so desperate to win and it was actually a good thing, when we scored a goal all the players thought, ‘Let’s defend this advantage to win’. For me, that’s when we should have enjoyed the game more and put pressure on the opponent.
“We need to mature as a team. What’s important to me is that they’ve worked hard all week, and they worked hard today, and we’ll be better. The game-changing moment was our own goal.”
United captain Fernandes is usually a clinical penalty taker, but Amorim said the Portuguese failed to cope with the pressure after missing his spot-kick in the 38th minute.
“In the game, you have to forget about the mistake and move on,” Amorim stressed.
“He’s our captain and carries a lot of responsibility. I could feel that after he missed the penalty, he kept thinking about it for the rest of the game. We need to keep going and play like we always do.”
Fulham were also furious with two big decisions in favour of United.
The visitors’ penalty was only awarded after a VAR review when Calvin Bassey and Mason Mount struggled in a corner kick situation.
However, when Bassey appeared to be pushed by Leny Yoro in the move that led to United’s goal, the VAR officials did not intervene.
“I don’t understand. I want to explain everything to you from the first whistle to the last, but that’s not my job,” said Fulham manager Marco Silva.
“I don’t want to start it. Everyone in the world saw what happened at Craven Cottage this evening.”