Manchester United won against Aston Villa courtesy of a second-half salvo, but Ruben Amorim will particularly want to forget a moment in the first half.
Matheus Cunha, Casemiro, and Benjamin Sesko ensured Man Utd took a huge leap towards securing UCL qualification next season.
All four goals in the 3-1 victory were scored in the second half, which means a particular moment in the first half will fly under the radar.
That is just as well for Ruben Amorim, because it made him look very silly and vindicated Ineos in style.
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Man Utd’s 41st moment vs Aston Villa
The first half of the game against Villa was patchy and reflected the state the two teams came into the match with.
United suffered from a lack of rhythm as this was their first game in almost 11 days, while Villa suffered from fatigue after playing in midweek.
However, just as the half-time whistle was about to blow, something really interesting happened in the 41st minute.
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A pass was played to Ollie Watkins, and he was immediately flagged for offside as he went one-on-one against Senne Lammens.
Despite the whistle for offside, Watkins lashed out in frustration and kicked the ball straight at Lammens, who was having none of it.
Watkins’ shot out of frustration was kicked away with utter dismissiveness by Lammens, summing up the mental state of the two players.
One is a frustrated striker who lashed out and just wanted to feel the feeling of his shot hitting the net.
The other is a goalkeeper who is in the form of his life and is not going to let the ball past him, even when the game has already stopped.
The way Lammens literally kicked away Watkins’ shot away from his presence was emblematic of a player who is feeling as confident and secure as he ever has.
To compound the woes for Watkins, he ended up getting carded for kicking the ball when the game had stopped, summing up the misery for him.
This contrast in fortunes of Lammens and Watkins in a single moment was poetic for Amorim, but in a bad way.
Ruben Amorim wanted Ollie Watkins and didn’t want Senne Lammens
That moment made Amorim look very silly because had Ineos accepted his demands, Lammens and Watkins would be wearing each other’s jerseys right now.
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Amorim wanted Emi Martinez instead of Senne Lammens, which sparked Villa’s interest in the Belgian.
Lammens would have signed for Villa had United accepted Amorim’s demand and signed Martinez instead.
In the same vein, Amorim wanted to sign Ollie Watkins as a proven commodity, but the board insisted on signing Benjamin Sesko instead.
After his goal against Villa, Sesko has now outscored Watkins in the Premier League this season, who has scored once in his last 10 games.
Combine that with both Martinez and Watkins being on the wrong side of 30, and signing them instead of Lammens and Sesko would have been an unmitigated disaster.
Fortunately, calmer heads prevailed, and United ended up solving two of the hardest positions in football for the long term in a single transfer window.
It has left Amorim looking very silly, as his departure suddenly looks a good price to pay for having Lammens and Sesko in Man Utd’s colours.
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