Manchester United were left stunned on their own turf on Monday night as Everton, reduced to 10 men inside 13 minutes, escaped Old Trafford with a 1-0 win that exposed deep cracks in United’s progress under Ruben Amorim.
The early flashpoint between Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane, which left the visitors a player short for almost the entire match, should have handed Manchester United complete control. Instead, it became the backdrop for one of their most frustrating performances of the season.
For long stretches, Amorim stood on the touchline watching his team unravel. Young defenders Patrick Dorgu and Leny Yoro repeatedly surrendered possession without pressure.
Amad Diallo, drafted in as a makeshift number 10 after Matheus Cunha’s injury, found himself picking the wrong options in promising situations. Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes, two players normally trusted to deliver, wasted chances they would usually bury.
Up front, Joshua Zirkzee, making his first start of the season, and Kobbie Mainoo, who had more minutes as he pushes for World Cup consideration, struggled to make any impression. In goal, Senne Lammens’ attempt to stop Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s first-half strike did little to help the team.
Zirkzee’s late header forced Jordan Pickford into a superb stop, but it was the only moment the home fans had to cling to.
United had arrived knowing a victory would lift them to fifth. Matching last season’s 4-0 win over Everton would have put them fourth. Yet despite playing against 10 men for 77 minutes, they could not muster a response. It was the first time United had ever lost a Premier League match at Old Trafford after the opposition received a red card.
“Old Trafford was there saying ‘we are all here to give a big step up’ and I felt that we were not ready,” Amorim admitted after the match. “We are not there, not even near the point we should be to fight for the best positions in the league. We have a lot to do and we need to be perfect to win games. We were not perfect today.”
The defeat follows back-to-back matches at Nottingham Forest and Tottenham where United let leads slip before scrambling late equalisers. It leaves them 10th, three points off the top four, after a summer in which the club spent £250 million to drag the squad out of last season’s 15th-place slump.
“Frustration, disappointment,” Amorim said. “They were the better team. We deserved to lose. Twenty minutes in the game, a red card for the opponent. We need to win this game no matter what.”
