Manchester United beat Newcastle 1-0 on Boxing Day thanks to Patrick Dorg’s first goal for the club – and Ruben Amorim was instrumental in scoring the winning volley.
Patrick Dorg says he has manager Ruben Amorim to thank for his newfound confidence after scoring his first goal for Manchester United to earn them three points against Newcastle. Dorg’s first-half volley secured a 1-0 win on Boxing Day at Old Trafford, lifting United into fifth place in the Premier League.
United had a lot of injuries and were missing three players due to the African Cup of Nations, but they still made it through. Dorg, who had never scored in 37 games for United, looked unlikely to be the winner, but he deftly volleyed home the ball after Diogo Dalot’s long throw-in was partially cleared.
His first goal was not due to a lack of tries, as the left wing-back had previously attempted 30 shots without success. The Denmark international, who joined for £25 million in February, admitted that confidence has been an issue and he and his manager have been working on the mental side of the game.
When asked by Sky Sports about the goal, he said, “It was a good shot. I never thought I would be able to do something like that, but I was very happy to score my first goal in this stadium. It was amazing.”
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“I just tried to follow what he (coach Ruben Amorim) told me and work on my confidence and stuff. I think I did well today. I just saw the ball, saw it fall and just hit it. I think that helped me because I’ve been working on it in training.”
His words echoed what Amorim said about Dorg back in November. “He needs to be more calm in the game,” the United manager said. “You can feel the anxiety every time Patrick touches the ball, and I can feel it too. The anxiety.
“And I remember the (missed) shot against Everton. That was easier than the great decision he had to make when the Scottish players were there. And I saw that too when he was playing in Italy. But here again it’s different and the pressure can be difficult for them at first, but he had time to improve.”
Amorim added: “What I feel when I watch them practice is that they perform much better than they do in games. When you see him playing for the national team, he scored a great goal against Scotland, but the decisions he made under pressure were different to the decisions he was making with our team.”
“So all we need to do to help them is understand the situation. I think they’re far from their best and they know that, just like me and a lot of the players on the team. I think they have a lot more to give. Let’s see this week if they can improve on that.”
That improvement has been noticeable recently, with United currently level on points with Chelsea in fourth place and Liverpool in sixth place, although their rivals have played fewer games.
United are currently without injured Bruno Fernandes, Mason Mount, Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt, and with Brian Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Nouser Mazraoui absent at AFCON, they are in dire need of an improved performance.
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