Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim backed Lenny Yolo, Aiden Haven and Benjamin Sesco after the club’s 2-1 loss to Aston Villa. The Red Devils returned from Birmingham with nothing to show for their efforts on Sunday, when Morgan Rogers scored twice.
Yoro gave Rodgers plenty of space in the opening minutes of the match and found himself involved again as the impressive England star restored his team’s advantage. Heaven faced a difficult task with experienced striker Ollie Watkins, but Sesco, making his first start since returning from a knee problem, squandered two golden chances in quick succession during the opening period.
Regarding Sesko, Amorim said: “He is coming back into the game, really fast. He will improve a lot. The idea was 70-75 (minutes) but he stopped for a while. We are trying to help the players.”
Commenting on whether United would have scored a similar goal at Villa Park, Amorim backed Yoro and Haven, explaining: “Sometimes we concede goals and concede goals. When you want to press and they kick the ball, Rodgers can handle both sides. It’s really difficult to defend a player like that one-on-one.”
“We had a game against Nottingham Forest, but Aiden (Haven) and Lenny (Yoro) were defending one-on-one most of the time. Same with Luke Shaw. It’s not just if you concede a goal, it’s how you do it. Sometimes the details can change the story.”
United missed out on the chance to move up to fifth in the league with victory over Villa and will now face Newcastle from seventh on Boxing Day.
Amorim confirmed that Bruno Fernandes will be absent after sustaining a muscular injury in the first half of the game. “I think it’s soft tissue so it’s going to take some time. We’ll see,” the United manager said.
As for the possibility of Koby Mainu returning against Newcastle, he added: “Koby Mainu is out, Bruno is out too, so we’ll see. We won’t make excuses. We’ll try to win the next game.”
