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Following a 2-0 win over FCSB at the National Arena in Bucharest, Manchester United finished in third place in the UEFA Europa League standings, to secure an automatic spot in the round of 16 of the competition. Following a vital victory, manager Ruben Amorim explained the technical change of playing Kobbie Mainoo as a No. 10, stating that he wasn’t at his best while defending as a central midfielder, but in his new position, he was so free at playing the ball.
In the eighth and final league stage match of the UEL, Manchester United had more than double the ball possession in comparison to the hosts FCSB, but they had to wait for an hour to take the lead. Diogo Dalot scored in the 60th minute with an assist from Kobbie Mainoo, the new No. 10 at the club before he got his name on the scoresheet in the 68th minute, thanks to an assist from Alejandro Garnacho.
He was struggling a lot defending as a midfielder: Amorim on Mainoo
After managing to hold onto their 2-0 advantage against FCSB last night, Manchester United got 18 points in eight matches in the UEFA Europa League, to finish behind Lazio and Athletic Club in third place in the standings. In his post-match interview, Ruben Amorim shared the reasoning behind using Kobbie Mainoo as a No. 10, and said, “I can understand my players better. I put Kobbie Mainoo in that position, we need time to understand the players as he was struggling a lot defending as a midfielder. As a 10 he was so free playing the ball near the box.”
Ruben Amorim also detailed how Manchester United found a way to score in the second half against FCSB after coming close in the first half, and remarked, “In the second half, you can see the opponents getting tired and slower when covering the space. We had more space with Kobbie between the lines and one-on-one with Amad and the pace of Alejandro Garnacho. I think it helped an awful lot. We managed to score two and we should score more. We had positions, sometimes four v two, and we have to do more with this kind of play.”
Kobbie Mainoo received the player of the match award for his involvement in two goals on the night against FCSB in the UEFA Europa League.