A king was born on Boxing Day: Amorim’s United fielded four defenders for the first time

There was only one Premier League game, held on Friday December 26th, the traditional Boxing Day, but it was a very good match for Manchester United fans who have experienced so much disappointment of late. A 1-0 win against Newcastle was a relief for the Old Trafford side.

But it was more than that. Ruben Amorim, unwilling to change his philosophy despite his poor results, played with four players in defense for the first time at United.

United have changed in other ways as well. They won with a possession rate of 33.4%, the lowest of any Red Devils team this season. This was also the lowest since January 2023, when they scored 29.4 per cent in the win over Manchester City. And United had nine shots on goal compared to 16 for the Magpies.

Patrick Dorg’s first goal as a Manchester United player and his second “clean sheet” of the season opened the door to an unpretty but essential victory for Amorim’s side. Amorim admitted it was one of his “most satisfying” wins since taking charge of United. “We are suffering together. If we always have this spirit, we will win many games,” added the Portuguese coach. And all this happened without United football’s most influential player, Bruno Fernandes, missing out due to injury. Amorim replaced the Portuguese midfielder with Uruguayan Manuel Ugarte.