Ruben Amorim fiercely defended Altay Bayindir after the Turkish goalkeeper’s mistake proved costly in Manchester United’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Bayindir was beaten in the 13th minute when he failed to deal with Declan Rice’s corner, palming the ball into a crowded area where Riccardo Calafiori rose to head home what turned out to be the decisive goal.
United players immediately protested that Bayindir had been obstructed, with William Saliba appearing to block him, but the officials allowed the goal to stand.
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Amorim highlighted the incident in his post-match press conference, arguing that his keeper had been put in a difficult position.
Ruben Amorim fiercely defended Altay Bayindir after the Turkish goalkeeper’s mistake proved costly in Manchester United’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday
|PA
“If you watch the ball, [the opponent] is allowed to do a lot of things at the corners,” the United manager said.
“We need to do the same. But when you touch that way [block], the goalkeeper needs to [be able to] use his hands to catch the ball, not push players [out of the way].
"He chooses to push players and let the ball pass. But again, it’s the rules.
"If it’s allowed, we need to do the same thing.”
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The error revived memories of Bayindir’s costly mistake last season when a Son Heung-min corner went straight in during the Carabao Cup defeat at Tottenham.
Asked if he had considered selecting Tom Heaton instead, Amorim pointed to how Bayindir responded immediately afterwards - with the 40-year-old's eyes widening in a tense moment.
“Why? Without VAR [in the competition],” he said.
“With VAR, it’s a foul. And then what happened in the next game? Arsenal. Who saved the penalty? Who saved the game?”
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Altay Bayindir was at fault as Man Utd lost 1-0 to Arsenal in their Premier League opener on Sunday
|REUTERS
The Portuguese coach also moved to dismiss suggestions that Andre Onana had been deliberately dropped, clarifying that the Cameroonian is still recovering from a hamstring injury.
“No, I didn’t drop Onana from the squad,” Amorim explained.
“I didn’t drop one of the other two from the squad [Bayindir, Heaton].
"So it’s not the case of dropping Onana. It’s not putting Andre Onana in just one week without seeing the game, without time, with training.”
Despite the defeat, Amorim insisted he remains confident in all three of his goalkeepers.
“We proved today that we can win any game in the Premier League, especially against a great team like Arsenal, and we were the better team. I’m happy with the three goalkeepers," he stated.
The head coach also confirmed that new signing Benjamin Sesko, who joined for £73.7m, has pushed Rasmus Hojlund out of the matchday squad, but would not be drawn on whether the Denmark international will leave.
“We’ll see what is going to happen in the market,” he said.
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Ruben Amorim insists he's proud of his Man Utd players despite their disappointing defeat to Arsenal
|REUTERS
Reflecting on the performance as a whole, Amorim struck a defiant tone: “We deserved more and we were the better team, that is clear but in the end we lost.
"We need to work on the things we need to improve. We need to defend set pieces.
"We did a lot of things right. There are a lot of things without seeing the video that we need to work on.
"I am really proud of my players. We stuck to the plan even when the stadium was nervous, we continued to play the way we played and that will help us in the future.”