Man Utd Player Ratings vs. Leeds: Amorim Intervention Spares His Blushes

There was more punch in the stands than on the pitch in Sunday’s derby.

Matheus Cunha (right) and Brenden Aaronson were on the scoresheet this weekend. / Darren Staples/AFP/Getty Images

Manchester United avoided defeat to fierce rivals Leeds United at Elland Road on Sunday thanks to the second-half introduction of Joshua Zirkzee.

After being forced to name a desperately inexperienced substitutes bench, Ruben Amorim preview the derby with the ominous line: “We don’t have a lot of options but we are ready to be competitive.” It proved to be prescient.

Within three minutes of Brenden Aaronson’s well-taken opener shortly after the hour mark, Zirkzee teed up Matheus Cunha for a swift equaliser. The visitors even had the chance to escape West Yorkshire with all three points after another probing intervention by the Dutch substitute, but his fellow striker Benjamin Šeško would remain stubbornly out of form.

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Man Utd Player Ratings vs. Leeds (3-4-2-1)

Lisandro Martínez was captain for the derby. / Ash Donelon/Manchester United/Getty Images

*Ratings provided by FotMob*

GK: Senne Lammens—7.3: Will be disappointed with the space he afforded Aaronson for the game’s opening goal.

CB: Leny Yoro—6.7: Played out an intriguing battle with Noah Okafor. Yoro couldn’t match him for pace but didn’t lose every duel.

CB: Ayden Heaven—7.2: Back in the middle of a back three, the England hopeful made some crucial interventions but his performance will be remembered by his failure to catch Aaronson.

CB: Lisandro Martínez—7.7: Cycled the ball frequently but without much penetration.

RWB: Diogo Dalot—6.9: In this battle of systems, Dalot was paired directly against Gabriel Gudmundsson. The Portuguese fullback gave as good as he got.

CM: Casemiro—7.5: Not at his influential best.

CM: Manuel Ugarte—7.3: Tasked with filling the creative void left by injuries to Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo, the battling Uruguay offered more grit than guile.

LWB: Luke Shaw—6.9: Installed in the unfamiliar attacking position of a wingback, Shaw’s best work counterintuitively came when defending James Justin.

RF: Patrick Dorgu—7.2: In a game of little finesse, Dorgu fit in perfectly.

LF: Matheus Cunha—8.1: United’s inspiring force through the middle, roving all over the pitch—and even into the stands during one feisty back-and-forth—in search of the breakthrough.

ST: Benjamin Šeško—6.1: Each chance which Šeško had seemed more likely to sap away at his confidence than break his goal drought.

Substitutes	Rating (Out of 10)
Joshua Zirkzee (63’ for Yoro)	7.0

Subs not used: Altay Bayındır (GK), Godwill Kukonki, Tyler Fredricson, Bendito Mantato, Shea Lacey, Tyrell Malacia.

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Leeds (3-4-2-1)

Starting XI: Lucas Perri; Sebastiaan Bornauw, Jaka Bijol, Pascal Struijk; James Justin, Anton Stach, Ilia Gruev, Gabriel Gudmundsson; Brenden Aaronson, Noah Okafor; Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Subs used: Lukas Nmecha, Ao Tanaka, Wilfried Gnonto, Joel Piroe.

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Player of the match: Matheus Cunha (Man Utd)

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Leeds 1–1 Man Utd: How It Unfolded at Elland Road

After causing a furore about a supposed inability to play his precious 3-4-2-1 system due to a lack of transfer funds, Amorim duly lined his side up in that very formation. Just as he had done against relegation-battling Wolverhampton Wanderers, the thinking was presumably to match the shape of his newly promoted hosts.

Leeds bounced into the contest full of confidence and quickly set about cancelling out their lofty opponents. Faced with this similarity of systems, both sides struggled to carve open any opportunities of note from open play in the first half. As has become the norm in this Premier League season: set pieces would offer more avenues of intrigue.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Leny Yoro both went close from the skies. Leeds’ in-form forward belatedly sniffed out a slither of space in United’s crowded penalty box at the breakdown from a long throw to glance an effort onto the far post in the 35th minute. Within a matter of moments, Yoro was denied by an instinctive flick of the wrist from Lucas Perri, who managed to paw over at a corner from point-blank range.

After an hour of arm wrestling, these hated rivals exchanged two goals in three minutes. Pascal Struijk’s nonchalant swat over the top of Manchester United’s rearguard completely befuddled the visitors, with Ayden Heaven caught out by the straight-line speed of Aaronson, who coolly tucked a 62nd-minute opener into the bottom corner.

Joshua Zirkzee (right) combined with Matheus Cunha (middle) for Man Utd’s equaliser. / Darren Staples/AFP/Getty Images

Amorim promptly turned to his bench. Faced with five teenagers and Tyrell Malacia—who has about as much recent experience of the Premier League as anyone from the crèche around him—the Portuguese boss had little option but to pick out Zirkzee.

The Dutch forward swiftly justified his inclusion with a deft pass slipped into the stride of Cunha, who made no mistake from the corner of the penalty box. The same, however, could not be said of Šeško.

United’s woefully out of form summer recruit found himself presented with the ball directly in front of goal, barely 10 yards out, after another slick interchange between Cunha and Zirkzee. Yet, Šeško conspired to skew his effort wide of the upright, extending his goal drought to 11 matches for club and country.

Cunha would again clip the outside of the post during a frantic conclusion to a contest which didn’t ever warrant a winner.

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Leeds vs. Man Utd Half-Time Stats

Statistic	Leeds	Man Utd
Possession	45%	55%
Expected Goals (xG)	0.32	0.67
Total Shots	4	10
Shots on Target	0	1
Big Chances	0	1
Passing Accuracy	74%	82%
Fouls Committed	4	5
Corners	2	4

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Leeds vs. Man Utd Full Time Stats

Statistic	Leeds	Man Utd
Possession	45%	55%
Expected Goals (xG)	0.92	1.46
Total Shots	10	15
Shots on Target	3	2
Big Chances	1	3
Passing Accuracy	73%	80%
Fouls Committed	9	9
Corners	6	4

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