It’s now Europa League success or bust for Ruben Amorim if he wants to claim silverware in his maiden Manchester United season.
In fairness, though, the head coach took the reins from Erik ten Hag last November and has been set up to fail by INEOS, having not been sufficiently backed in the January window.
He was granted only two signings to carry out his newly implemented system in the form of Patrick Dorgu and Ayden Heaven, the latter of which had not made his senior debut at the time of his switch from Arsenal.
Heaven was called upon to feature last night, however, when he replaced the injured Harry Maguire at the start of extra-time against Fulham at Old Trafford.
Calvin Bassey and Bruno Fernandes scoring the only goals of the game meant the sides were forced to play an additional 30 minutes to try and clinch a winner. When neither United nor the Cottagers did so, a penalty shootout was required to decide the tie.
Fulham’s four spot-kicks scored to United’s three confirmed their progression to the quarter-finals after both Victor Lindelof and Joshua Zirkzee were denied by Bernd Leno.
Next up for United
Now, it’s a return to European action for Amorim and his men.
The Reds went unbeaten in the first phase of the new-look UEL standings by winning five matches and drawing three. As a result, they bypassed added fixture build-up with the last-16 play-offs and booked their spot automatically, being drawn to Real Sociedad in the two-legged knockouts. If you want to take a punt at who’ll come out on top, take a look at the Europa League betting markets.
They will travel to Spain this week before locking horns with the ninth-placed La Liga outfit, who’ve also endured tumultuous form this campaign; they enter Thursday’s contest on the back of a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of league leaders Barcelona.
Sociedad sit 10 points away from the division’s Europa League spot but could, of course, claim a Champions League place by going all the way and reigning victorious in this year’s final – held in Bilbao on Wednesday, May 21.
In terms of the players who can cause trouble for the visitors, ex-Real Madrid prospect Takefusa Kubo has often proven to be his side’s talisman in recent years, while skipper Mikel Oyarzabal is more than capable of pulling the strings in attack.
United fans will likely be familiar with sought-after midfielder Martin Zubimendi, who rejected Liverpool last summer in favour of staying at his boyhood club. He has since become a target for Arsenal.
