Eighty-one seconds.
That's how long it took Manchester United to score for Ruben Amorim in his first match in charge — a 1-1 draw at third-from-last Ipswich in the Premier League on Sunday.
Marcus Rashford tapped in a cross from Amad Diallo to give United the lead at Portman Road in the best possible start to Amorim's tenure.
United couldn't hold on against one of the Premier League's weakest teams, conceding an equalizer to Omari Hutchinson just before halftime.
“It's a tough league — I already knew that but you had the real feeling here,” Amorim said. “The intensity of the opponents, the environment of the stadium. But I think we started very well.”
Amorim left Portuguese leader Sporting Lisbon to replace the fired Erik ten Hag as United manager and two of his major selection calls were vindicated very early in his first game, for which he deployed his favored 3-4-3 formation.
Diallo, a winger, was deployed as a wing back and his first foray forward resulted in a goal.
Rashford was the scorer after being chosen to start up front ahead of out-and-out strikers Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee. Rashford has typically been playing as a winger and has been in patchy form for the past two seasons, meaning he has dropped out of the England squad.
“It has been tough on them,” Amorim said about his players. “They had to learn in two days different positions. They tried — that's all we can ask."
“It will take a long time,” he added of the bigger picture at United. “Let's not focus on that goal (winning the title). That is the big goal. Let's focus on the small details, the small things, and to build a team and an environment that can produce one team that can win the title.”
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Steve Douglas, The Associated Press
