Manchester United suffered elimination from the Carabao Cup on Thursday night following a 4-3 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
The Reds missed out on booking a place in the Carabao Cup semi-finals as Tottenham prepares to face Liverpool over two legs in the new year.
It was an extraordinary night at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – full of goals and drama.
Manchester United have every right to be disappointed after performing better than the hosts, but Ange Postecoglou’s side were more clinical in front of goal.
Altay Bayindir’s mistakes helped Tottenham with United’s second-choice goalkeeper at fault for two of Tottenham’s goals. The same can be said for Tottenham’s Fraser Forster, who had a nightmare between the sticks.
Ruben Amorim’s substitutes made a huge impact with three of them – Joshua Zirkzee, Amad Diallo and Jonny Evans – getting on the scoresheet.
Joshua Zirkzee finds positives in Manchester United display
Nobody likes losing and Zirkzee made that clear in his post-match interview.
The Netherlands international came off the bench against Tottenham only to make an instant impact. Zirkzee scored United’s first goal and caused the hosts several problems during his second half cameo.
Zirkzee also highlighted the spirit shown by his team-mates on the night. After going 3-0 down, United never gave up and tried to claw their way back into the tie. It just wasn’t enough as Tottenham beat the Reds 4-3.
Speaking to MUTV, Zirkzee said: “A bit disappointed. Losing is never fun, especially when you’re in a cup that you could potentially win. It’s disappointing but I think we showed great spirit as well.
“We just kept fighting and I think we can be proud of ourselves for the fact that we never stopped but yeah, disappointing. I think it was good timing [to score United’s first goal of the night] and it came in front of the fans.
“The goal from Amad also gave us a real boost and that’s what we tried to do when we came on. We wanted to bring energy to the pitch but sadly we couldn’t change it all around.
“We just have to keep going. We have to deliver and we’ll go out on Sunday and make sure we get three points.”
Rather than dwell on the result, Zirkzee has urged the team to move on and focus on Sunday’s clash against Bournemouth in the Premier League.
Amorim will be targeting improvements in the league and his team won’t have any Carabao Cup ties until next season.
Manchester United showing more spirit under Ruben Amorim
It’s early days for Amorim but we are already noticing key differences between the Portuguese coach and Erik ten Hag.
Amorim is a lot more confident in front of the media, and you get the impression that he is in control, no matter what question is put in front of him by reporters. It was a different story under Ten Hag as the media successfully piled the pressure on the Dutchman.
However, this is starting to show in performances. United lost last night but it wasn’t for a lack of effort. The players gave everything to force a comeback but it was too late after conceding avoidable goals.
These are early signs that team spirit is better than it was under Ten Hag. United’s 2-1 win over Manchester City is further proof of that.
This will all count for little if United don’t back it up with a win over Bournemouth on Sunday.
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