Ruben Amorim was denied victory in his first match in charge of Manchester United as they played out a 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town on Sunday.
The visitors made a dream start to Amorim’s tenure when Marcus Rashford opened the scoring in only the second minute at Portman Road.
But Omari Hutchinson’s deflected equaliser sent Ipswich deservedly into the break on level terms as the Tractor Boys responded well to the early setback.
United were grateful to Andre Onana for a couple of big saves in a match in which they struggled to test Arijanet Muric in the Ipswich goal after their flying start.
Ultimately, the spoils were shared and a point leaves Man Utd in 12th place, while Ipswich remain in the relegation zone in 18th.
How the match unfolded
Man Utd offered a quick glimpse of what they will be able to offer in the Premier League under their new head coach as Rashford tucked home the opener following fantastic work down the right flank from Amad Diallo.
Amad almost had a second assist when he teed up Christian Eriksen, who shot wide of a left post from 20 yards, before Onana was called into action to parry Sam Szmodics’ well-struck drive.
Onana made a fantastic stop to deny Liam Delap from close range but there was nothing he could do to prevent Hutchinson’s bending 20-yard effort finding the top-left corner via a deflection off the head of Noussair Mazraoui.
Muric made a smart stop from Alejandro Garnacho before Onana’s foot kept out Delap’s ingenious flick in a fast start to the second half.
Bruno Fernandes sent a whipped 25 yard free-kick just wide of the left post and Conor Chaplin poked straight at Onana after good work from Jack Clarke as both sides sought a winner that would not arrive.
It might have been more for McKenna
Once upon a time, Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna was on the coaching staff at Old Trafford and he would have feared his old club running away with proceedings after Rashford’s early opener.
But Ipswich showed plenty of resilience after going behind so early on, and had Delap shown a bit more composure, they would have been level earlier in the half.
As it was, the home side – who earned a first Premier League win of the campaign at Tottenham Hotspur prior to the international break – did have just rewards for their first-half efforts, even if Hutchinson’s well-struck attempt did get a bit of a helping hand on the way in.
Frustratingly for Ipswich, Onana was on hand to deny Delap again with another sublime stop after a clever flick from Wes Burns’ centre.
Ultimately, Ipswich – who are still without a win at home in the league this season – will view this as a valuable point in their bid to stave off relegation, but may feel that on a different day they could have taken all three.
Rashford answers the critics but Amorim frustrated
United had to wait 23 days for Amorim to take charge of his first match following confirmation of his appointment at the start of November.
But it took just 81 seconds for Red Devils supporters to celebrate a first goal under their new head coach, who could scarcely have dreamed of a better start.
Rashford himself will feel particularly vindicated after he received criticism in some quarters.
Selected as the spearhead of Amorim’s 3-4-3 formation, Rashford – who scored on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s United managerial bow back in 2018 – showed great predatory instincts to meet Amad’s excellent, low cross.
But the truth of the matter is there was very little goal threat from the visitors after that thrilling start, save for Garnacho’s effort shortly after the break and Fernandes’ decent free-kick.
Amorim will have seen plenty to be encouraged by but also some familiar failings to work on in the coming weeks as he seeks to get his new side climbing the table. His first home league match in charge comes against Everton next Sunday.
