Amorim's vision coming to life as Man Utd attack clicks

It took 11 months for Ruben Amorim to win consecutive Premier League matches with Manchester United, but after withstanding a late fightback from Brighton & Hove Albion, the Portuguese head coach has now made it three in a row. 

Indeed, this is the first time that the club have won three consecutive league matches in a single campaign since February 2024 under Erik ten Hag. 

Last week’s surprise victory against Liverpool at Anfield may prove to be Man Utd’s most important win in a considerable amount of time, but despite the resulting impetus it has provided, that display will not have pleased Amorim as much as this week’s against Brighton. 

The win at Liverpool was a backs-against-the-wall performance that very easily could have see-sawed its way to another frustrating defeat, while Saturday’s victory against Brighton hinted at the kind of attacking display that was promised when Amorim joined with such high expectations last year. 

The attack appeared to genuinely click today, with the club’s trio of summer attacking additions all providing key contributions. 

Bryan Mbeumo was the pick of the bunch, netting twice in the second half with two excellent finishes, the second of which emphatically ended Brighton’s hopes of a devastating comeback. 

Watch: Mbeumo's performance v Brighton

Matheus Cunha scored his first goal for the club with a sublime curling effort from outside the penalty area. It was the Brazilian’s seventh goal from outside the box in the Premier League since the start of last season, the most of any player in this time. 

Watch: Cunha's goal v Brighton

Benjamin Sesko’s physicality was of great importance too, with his six aerial wins the most of any player in the match, and his quick one-two punch touch and pass combination set Mbeumo up wonderfully for the Frenchman’s first goal of the night. 

Of great significance is the fact that Man Utd scored four goals in a league match for the first time since 1 December 2024 against Everton, which was Amorim’s first Premier League game in charge at Old Trafford. 

Of even greater significance is the fact that Bruno Fernandes, who has carried the attacking burden for this side for so long, did not need to provide a goal or assist for his side to accumulate this goal total. 

This is not to diminish the captain’s performance - in fact, the Player of the Match was a toss-up between Fernandes, Mbeumo and Cunha, and the midfielder’s all-round display was mesmerising. 

In his deeper role, Fernandes either led or co-led all Man Utd players for touches (82), duels won (nine), possession won (seven), touches in the opposition box (seven), shots (four), tackles (three), interceptions (three), fouls won (three) and chances created (two). 

This was a performance befitting of the armband, and the three men at the top of the pitch allowed him to dominate the centre without also having to do the heavy lifting in the final third. 

The assured performances of Casemiro and Luke Shaw are noteworthy too. Both players have been written off repeatedly, but Amorim will be reliant on the experience the pair provide if his side are to challenge the European places come May. 

Brighton’s two late goals threatened to ruin the party atmosphere at Old Trafford. 

It has been rare of late for the Man Utd faithful to see their side with a commanding lead on home soil. In fact, this was only the second time that the club had led by three or more goals in a Premier League match under Amorim at Old Trafford, the other instance being the aforementioned win against Everton last December. 

But as has been customary for the club in recent years, they didn’t make it easy for themselves. 

It could be argued that Amorim’s withdrawal of Shaw and Casemiro for the young duo of Kobbie Mainoo and Ayden Heaven was a sign he felt his team had already secured the win. 

There will have been anxious thoughts of “Here we go again” when Danny Welbeck pulled one back for Brighton with just over 15 minutes remaining, and those concerns were realised when the visitors scored again from a corner in stoppage time through substitute Charalampos Kostoulas. 

Nevertheless, Amorim’s side refused to capitulate, and their reaction to conceding the second goal may be as sure a sign as any that the club may have finally turned a corner, with Mbeumo putting the game to bed deep into stoppage time to deny Brighton a comeback that would have completely transformed the narrative. 

"It is a very good boost”, Amorim told BBC Match of the Day after the Brighton game when asked of the knock-on effect from last week’s win. 

“But again, in our club, we have to maintain that with hard work, and when you are confident, you play better. 

“You have better moments and a little bit of luck when you have the right spirit, so everything is in our favour at the moment, but we have to keep working hard to maintain that.” 

"It is hard [at 3-2], but we had some moments in the past when the spirit was a little bit different, and we suffered more, but today we scored the last goal because I felt we could deal with bad moments in a better way than we showed last year. And when you have a better spirit, you have a bit of luck." 

Amorim’s side now have won four of their five home games in the Premier League this season, with the other game a defeat against league-leaders Arsenal, a game in which they deserved more. 

Their 12 points from home games is the most of any side this season. 

The club will have the chance to take advantage of their growing form with two more games before the November international break. 

They face Nottingham Forest next week at the City Ground, a fixture that looks a great deal more difficult now Sean Dyche has taken over from Ange Postecoglou, and another tough match away to Tottenham Hotspur will follow. 

Wins in both matches would Man Utd’s winning run to five games, hopes of a return to European football and one famous fan, Frank Ilett, will finally be able to take a trip to the barber.