Ruben Amorim praises assistant coach for free kick despite Onana's mistake

 Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim credited assistant Carlos Fernandes and first-team coach Andreas Georgson for their contributions in the 3-2 win over Ipswich Town.

All three of United's goals came from set pieces taken by Bruno Fernandes, with two assists leading directly to Sam Morsy's own goal and Harry Maguire's winner. Matthijs de Ligt opened the scoring for United in the first half after a goalmouth scramble from a corner.

Carlos Fernandes has taken charge of United's attacking and defensive free-kicks since Georgson was hired as the club's specialist free-kick coach in the summer.

Manchester United's Harry Maguire celebrates scoring the third goal during the match against Ipswich Town FC (Photo by Copa/Getty Images)

United have scored more goals from set-pieces than any other Premier League side in 2024, and Amorim notes that the approach to free-kicks in England is completely different to other leagues.

"We've talked about this a lot when we conceded goals," Amorim explains. "And you can see the change with Carlos and Andreas. We are a team and today they won the game for us. So credit to them."

"Set-pieces are the only thing I find difficult when I'm abroad. The contact with defenders, especially the goalkeeper, is something we have to adapt to."

"I think we're improving both defensively and offensively. Like today, it changed the game."

United have conceded first in 21 of their 41 league games this season, but they came from behind to beat a bottom-three side for the third time this year. Fernandes started the 2-2 draw with Everton as one of two No.10s in Amorim's 3-4-2-1, but moved back into central midfield and produced his best performance against Ipswich.

United handled the situation well in the second half with ten men after Patrick Dorgu was sent off for a foul on Omari Hutchinson in the 43rd minute. Amorim admitted that United looked more comfortable playing with a more compact shape.

 Ruben Amorim during the Premier League match at Old Trafford, Manchester. Picture date: Wednesday February 26, 2025. (Photo by Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images)

We need to improve in all areas, Amorim insisted. We lacked some elements in the team to play differently, we needed to have more possession and I felt we were calmer on the ball today, especially in the early stages and after conceding the first goal.

Bruno was important in that. Sometimes we wanted Bruno to get higher up the pitch to get closer to goal, but sometimes we needed him to be involved in the attack and he did that really well today because he was confident on the ball no matter the circumstances.

Obviously we need to create more chances and especially score more goals. This is a big problem our team is facing. In the future, we need to solve this problem.

Amorim has defended Dorgu after his home league debut was marred by a fourth-minute error that led to a chance for Jaden Philogene and ended in a red card. The first incident: when he looked at the ball, he looked at Andre Onana and then looked at the ball. And when he looked at the ball, Andre jumped to get the ball. There was a misunderstanding in the way they connected.

Robbie Savage believes Andree Onana was at fault for the first goal

Former Manchester United academy player Robbie Savage blamed Andre Onana entirely after Ipswich Town took the lead at Old Trafford on Wednesday night. After a long ball forward, Patrick Dorgu looked to have beaten Jaden Philogene to gain possession. However, when Dorgu tried to pass the ball back to Onana, he found the goalkeeper unmarked and pushed his pass past him.

Jaden Philogene controlled the ball past Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana en route to scoring his team's first goal. (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)

Philogene then simply put the ball into an empty net to give Ipswich the lead. With the Old Trafford crowd frustrated by the poor start, Savage had his say on who was at fault - suggesting the goalkeeper should have stayed and been available for the pass.

Speaking to TNT Sports, the former midfielder expressed his desire to hear Rio Ferdinand's view, as a defender in the situation. The defender was in control, and he saw no reason for Onana to leave his goal.

He should have communicated, you know, just got the ball to him with his right foot and he could have cleared it. I don't know why he came that close.

The defender was in control, Onana should have stayed in goal. United equalised after just 20 minutes when Bruno Fernandes' free-kick was accidentally blocked by Ipswich captain Sam Morsy, before Matthijs de Ligt scored to put United ahead, freeing both Onana and Dorgu from a difficult situation.