United’s case at Molineux was not helped by a third red card of the season for captain Bruno Fernandes just two minutes into the second half.

Matheus Cunha then exposed the visitors’ frailties from set-pieces by scoring directly from a corner before the Brazilian teed up Hwang Hee-chan to seal a vital win that lifted Wolves out of the relegation zone.

Amorim has won just two of his first seven Premier League games to leave United languishing down in 14th.

“I think we were always in control, not always dominating, but in control, but the same things, set-pieces and also the sending off was really hard for us,” said Amorim.

“I said it before everybody: it will be a long journey and this moment will be really tough. We have to continue. We need to have time to train.”

United have now lost their last three consecutive games with a 4-3 League Cup exit to Tottenham followed by a damaging 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth on Sunday.

In the last five league games, Amorim’s side have conceded from either a corner or a free-kick.

Andre Onana complained he had been fouled as the United goalkeeper was pinned between two Wolves players when Cunha’s in-swinging delivery flew into the far corner.

Amorim expressed his frustration that the opening goal was not ruled out, but did take heart from the performance of his players without their skipper for almost the entirety of the second period.

“Onana cannot go to the ball because he has one man in front and one man in the back and in the last moment, he’s jumping, just a touch in his back can change the way you see the ball,” he added.

“Some guys are not even looking to the ball. But I don’t want to focus on that. The good thing is we were near the (Wolves) goal even with 10 men, but we lost and we continue our job.”

Amorim’s task does not get any easier with in-form Newcastle visiting Old Trafford on Monday.

A trip to Premier League leaders Liverpool is United’s first fixture of 2025 before they face Arsenal away in the FA Cup third round.

By AFP

The post Amorim Warns of ‘Long Journey’ Ahead for Miserable Man Utd appeared first on KahawaTungu.

United looked to have snatched a point when Amad Diallo’s deflected effort cancelled out Danny Welbeck’s first half opener for Brighton.

The visitors could even have won it had Alejandro Garnacho’s effort not clipped team-mate Joshua Zirkzee, who was in an offside position, just before the ball crossed the line.

Instead it is Brighton who have a maximum six points from their opening two games under Hurzeler as Pedro was left completely unmarked to head in Simon Adingra’s cross deep into stoppage time.

Defeat puts the spotlight back on United boss Erik ten Hag with Liverpool set to visit Old Trafford next weekend.

Ten Hag survived at the end of last season, despite finishing eighth in the Premier League, thanks to winning the FA Cup.

The former Ajax coach got a much-needed 1-0 win against Fulham to open the season last weekend thanks to Zirkzee’s late winner.

But the performances in both United’s first two league matches of the new campaign have done little to suggest there will be a marked improvement from a dismal season in 2023/24.

Ten Hag kept faith with the side that started against Fulham with Zirkzee and Garnacho again only used as impact substitutes.

Brighton thrashed Everton 3-0 away in Hurzeler’s first match in charge and showed they will be a contender to get back into European football next season.

The Seagulls took the lead on 32 minutes when Harry Maguire failed to cut out a dangerous cross and Kaoru Mitoma rolled the ball back across goal for Welbeck to tap in for his 100th career goal.

Within seconds the visitors thought they were level when Marcus Rashford bundled in at the back post after Jason Steele brilliantly saved his initial effort.

However, the offside flag denied the England international.

Brighton flew out of the traps after the break but failed to build on their advantage.

James Milner had an effort cleared off the line by Diogo Dalot before Welbeck headed off the bar.

United had barely been in the Brighton half since the restart until Diallo drove forward, cut inside onto his left foot and found the net via a deflection off Jan Paul van Hecke.

Zirkzee had replaced Mason Mount at the break but after a hero’s debut the Dutchman was the villain for what should have been a second United goal.

In a blistering counter-attack, Diallo fed Bruno Fernandes and his low cross was fired goalwards by Garnacho.

However, the ball clipped Zirkzee’s knee on its way in and the forward was ruled offside after a VAR review.

That proved to be the turning point as it was Brighton who got the decisive third goal.

Questions will be asked of United’s defending as Pedro easily pulled away from Scott McTominay and Matthijs de Ligt to find the space to head back across Andre Onana into the far corner.

By Agencies

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The former Bologna forward came on with Alejandro Garnacho after an hour as United struggled to find a breakthrough against Marco Silva’s side.

And the pair combined in the nick of time as the Argentina winger crossed from the right and Zirkzee calmly steered the ball into the bottom corner in a hammer blow for Fulham.

After a slow start, during which Andre Onana tipped an early Kenny Tete effort over, it was United who had carried the greater threat.

But three times they were denied by superb saves from Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno.

Twice United skipper Bruno Fernandes was repelled, the second stop bringing yells of frustration from the Portuguese midfielder. The third time it was Mason Mount who only had Leno to beat as Marcus Rashford crossed from the left.

In front of co-chair Avie Glazer, who was making a rare visit to this stadium, and new chief executive Omar Berrada, Fernandes curled another effort straight at Leno.

United were not to be denied though. Erik ten Hag might have said his side were not ready for the game. But they still managed to win it.

Dutch delight

The euphoria that accompanied the final whistle was in keeping with the optimism that surrounded United in the build-up to the game.

Zirkzee took the acclaim in such a calm manner it was reminiscent of another Dutchman, who has returned to these parts, in Ruud van Nistelrooy, who is now a senior figure in Ten Hag’s coaching team.

The home supporters sang the ex-United and Netherlands striker’s name as he made his way to the dressing rooms, confirmation of the status he still has at the club.

If Zirkzee gets anywhere close to the 150 goals in five seasons Van Nistelrooy managed for United, he will have done extremely well.

As it is, just like the 23-year-old’s illustrious fellow countryman, he scored on his Premier League debut against Fulham.

Any late nerves at Old Trafford should have been eased by Garnacho but he somehow managed to fire wide after being set up by Rashford.

When the elation subsides thanks will also be due to Harry Maguire, who managed to intervene when former United midfielder Andreas Pereira looked certain to send Alex Iwobi through on Onana’s goal midway through the second period, when the game was still deadlocked.

Fulham frustrations

It will be a frustrating trip back to London for Silva, whose side started brightly and came so close to securing a point.

Given the home side had lost to three of their main Premier League rivals in pre-season, still didn’t have an orthodox left-back and started without a central striker, United’s pre-match optimism didn’t appear to be based on the firmest of foundations.

Fulham duly exposed United’s weaknesses and for the first quarter of the game carried by far the greater threat.

Tete might have gone closest for the visitors but their most potent attacking weapon was Adama Traore.

The former Middlesbrough and Wolves winger can be a frustrating figure. He is one of the fastest, most direct players in the game and because of that, he is a major danger. But too often, the threat he poses peters out into very little.

It was the same here. Traore flew into the box, got himself into the perfect position to cut the ball back to a team-mate, and allowed the pass to be intercepted by United debutant Noussair Mazraoui.

He was off target with a decent chance not long afterwards and when he attacked the home goal for a third time, Lisandro Martinez stepped in to simply ease him away from the ball.

This all meant Fulham failed to make the most of their best spell and once Pereira contrived to blow one chance and Martinez was then allowed to snuff out the danger from what was initially a four-on-two counter, they were always at risk of a nasty late surprise.

By BBC Sports

The post Zirkzee Scores Late Winner on Debut as Man Utd Beat Fulham in Opener appeared first on KahawaTungu.

Erik ten Hag’s side looked on course to repeat their shock victory over City in the FA Cup final when Alejandro Garnacho put United ahead after 82 minutes, but City midfielder Bernardo Silva netted a minute from time to send the match to penalties.

City defender Manuel Akanji scored the decisive spot-kick after Silva had earlier missed in the shootout. Jonny Evans and Jadon Sancho failed to convert their penalties in the shootout.

United thought they had taken the lead soon after half-time when captain Bruno Fernandes beat goalkeeper Éderson with a stunning finish from distance, but the effort was disallowed for offside.

Substitute Garnacho ran through the City defence to slide the ball into the bottom corner of the net before Silva converted Oscar Bobb’s from close range to send the game to a shootout.

City won the trophy for the first time since 2019 to end a run of defeats in Community Shield matches, following losses to Arsenal last season, Liverpool in 2022 and Leicester City in 2021.

“I enjoyed the season against our rival in Manchester and to start the season with a title is good. We are really pleased,” City manager Pep Guardiola told ITV.

“We lost a lot of balls, after transitions they are one of the best teams in the world. They are so dangerous to control. But in the end, we did it.

“It is nice to play this game because it means you won something in the previous season… The target now is not to win the Premier League, it is ‘OK next game try and win it’. This is what we have to do.”

City’s England players Phil Foden, Kyle Walkerand John Stones as well as Spain midfielder Rodri were unavailable for selection, leading Guardiola to field an unfamiliar line-up with four academy players starting.

Their young side dominated possession after a slow start, however, with United’s sloppy play handing the first chance of the game to youngster James McAtee who struck the post.

“Tough result to take. When the performance is right, when you lose everyone feels this. It hurts in your stomach. You have to feel pain and we have to hurt. We have to take this belief into the league,” Ten Hag told ITV.

“We managed to be on an equal level with Man City… We created chances, we got pressure in the ball and in possession we had some very good chances from this so there are many positives we can take.”

City begin their quest for a fifth consecutive Premier League title at Chelsea on Aug. 18, while United start their campaign at home to Fulham on Friday.

By ESPN

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