The Ruben Amorim era has received the boost it needed as Manchester United completed a remarkable comeback win against Manchester City.
With City leading 1-0 until the 86th minute, a penalty won by Amad saw them draw level before the same man was on hand again to give United all three points.
After becoming a hero last season with his last-minute winner vs Liverpool, the Ivorian repeated the trick here to become a bonafide icon in a short time.
For Ruben Amorim, it was a statement vindication in a game where he put his reputation on the line with some massive calls.
Perhaps none bigger than putting Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho on the bench and then not shying away from accepting that it was a completely tactical choice.
Rashford has now sent a four-word message after his team secured a memorable win in his absence.
Marcus Rashford’s four-word message after Man Utd win
Rashford has generally stepped up his game vs Manchester City so his exclusion from the starting XI would have been a surprise.
Amorim, however, took it a step further and removed from the squad altogether. As United failed to capitalise on transition opportunities, the murmurs were starting that they missed Rashford’s pace.
However, all those questions were put to rest when Amad, the player who has effectively taken Garnacho and Rashford’s role, scripted a memorable comeback.
Rashford went on Instagram after the game and sent a four-word message that read: “Yesssssssss! Love it lads”, accompanied by two heart emojis.
Joshua Zirkzee responded with six heart emojis while the club also chimed in with one.
Rashford now has the template to succeed under Ruben Amorim
If Amorim excluding Rashford wasn’t enough of a message, what Amad did in his absence, or even Bruno Fernandes when shifted up, provided a template for the United forward to succeed.
Amorim has kept stressing that the team needs to “run a lot” and he chose an XI designed to do that vs Manchester City.
His call paid off handsomely and most importantly, the players now know that listening to Amorim will give them the rewards.
That is most important for a team that has been accused far too often of throwing the manager under the bus so a statement win like this, which came on the manager’s terms, could be transformational.
Amorim has now shown Rashford what he needs to do to get back in the team and then Amad stamped it with the approval of being an eye-witness.
It is now up to Rashford to step up to the challenge.
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