Manchester United fans were treated to a home win on Sunday afternoon and will have turned the attention straight on to Ruben Amorim’s final game at Sporting.
The Ruud van Nistelrooy era came to an end on Sunday afternoon as Manchester United beat Leicester City 3-0 at Old Trafford.
Van Nistelrooy has been taking interim charge ever since Erik ten Hag was sacked by United in October.
The Dutchman has signed off with a victory, beating Leicester 3-0 as Bruno Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho found the net.
An own goal also helped United to victory, allowing Van Nistelrooy to have an emotional moment with the United fans.
The attention now turns to the next manager with United having already confirmed the appointment of Ruben Amorim as head coach.
How Sporting players reacted to final goal under Ruben Amorim
The deal for Amorim allowed him to keep managing Sporting until the international break.
That means Sunday’s trip to Braga – ironically, Amorim’s former club – was the 39-year-old’s final game in charge of Sporting.
Amorim has signed off in style as Sporting racked up a 4-2 victory, but only after a real battle.
Sporting were 2-0 down at half time and in danger of losing their unbeaten start to the league season.
Sporting ran riot in the second half though with Hidemasa Morita and Morten Hjulmand levelling the score before Conrad Harder scored twice in the final stages to seal a 4-2 win.
This was quite the comeback for Amorim and his players showed just how much it meant to them as their boss heads for Manchester.
The Athletic’s Laurie Whitwell has travelled out to Braga for the game and showed how Sporting players ran right over to the bench in order to flood Amorim and celebrate their final goal under him.
V Sports in Portugal also showed their footage on YouTube with Amorim seemingly in tears as his Sporting squad and staff crowded around him.
Ruben Amorim admits Sporting star is ‘angry’ with him
This moment was huge for Amorim and Sporting and the outpouring of emotion just goes to show the bond he has struck with his Sporting stars.
Amorim now waves goodbye to Sporting but knows that he has upset one of his star players along the way.
Amorim has told Mais Futebol that playmaker Pedro Goncalves – also known as ‘Pote’ – is a ‘little angry’ with him.
Goncalves was crying over Amorim’s final game in charge with the United-bound boss admitting that it’s ‘really hard’ for him to see Goncalves so upset.
“I had already resigned and when you win it’s the players who matter,” said Amorim. “They were the ones who turned the game around.”
“It was harder for me to see Pote crying and leaving. It’s not the first time. It’s really hard for me, I know Pote is a little angry with me because it was really hard, in the end everyone felt that it was important to win. They’ll have a great coach, without a doubt,” he added.
The pair may yet reunite at United though amid early speculation over Amorim’s transfer plans.
TEAMtalk report that Amorim has already asked United to sign Goncalves, with any deal surely more likely for next summer.
Amorim has remained coy on a potential deal for Goncalves but it’s clear that they enjoyed quite the connection in Lisbon.
Goncalves is a name to keep close tabs on and maybe following Amorim to United is just what he needs to get over seeing his boss leave.
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