Man Utd issues remain but Ipswich win is welcome reprieve for Ruben Amorim

In the week Manchester United scrapped free lunches for staff at Old Trafford, the players continue to make a meal of things on the pitch.

The most remarkable aspect of this game was how United managed to recover from conceding two self-inflicted goals, as well as a straight red for new signing Patrick Dorgu, to record a vital victory.

This was only Amorim's fifth win in 16 Premier League games, while a haul of 18 points from a possible 45 is a dismal return for a club of United's stature. But with United sinking further down the Premier League with every demoralising loss and flirting with the bottom three, this was a crucial win at a timely stage of the season.

With the Premier League now written off, United's hopes of salvaging something from their worst season of the modern era now rest with the FA Cup and Europa League.

But if they are going to lift either of those trophies, they must find some semblance of form and build some momentum and this, while far from convincing, was a small step towards that.

With nine players unavailable through injury, Amorin was only able to name six outfield substitutes, confirming the lack of personnel at his disposal, which has sabotaged his hopes of any consistency of selection.

It took Ipswich just 35 seconds for their first shot on goal, a shot dragged wide by Liam Delap, and a further three minutes to score the opener, thanks to a calamitous mix-up between Dorgu and Andre Onana.

There seemed little danger when Dorgu, a £29.2million signing last month, tracked a long ball over the top from Ipswich defender Jacob Greaves, but the United defender and his goalkeeper were not on the same wavelength.

Dorgu tapped the ball back to Onana, but sent it beyond his advancing keeper, leaving Jaden Philogene – rewarded for his willingness to chase down a seemingly lost cause – to tap in into an empty net to open the scoring.

It was a lamentable goal in keeping with United's wretched season, one borne out of a lack of communication and understanding, which has been a recurring theme on the pitch throughout the campaign.

United came close to levelling in the 10th minute, when Alex Palmer palmed away a goalbound header from Harry Maguire. But Amorim's side had to wait until the 22nd minute to equalise, Sam Morsy heading into his own net from a menacing free-kick from United skipper Bruno Fernandes.

The hosts plundered a second goal four minutes later, Matthijs De Ligt crashing the ball into the roof of the net after Palmer had denied Maguire and Diogo Dalot with saves at point-blank range.

Dorgu's game ended in the 43rd minute, with a straight red card for a sickening challenge on Omari Hutchinson, following a VAR review, although quite why referee Darren England needed several views before reaching his decision, only he knows.

With United down to 10 men, Ipswich drew level just before the break, Onana again at fault, allowing a cross from Philogene to sail beyond him and into the far corner, another slapstick goal conceded by a pantomime team.

Maguire restored United's lead two minutes after the restart, with a fine header from a Fernandes corner and thereafter Amorim's side dug in to lift themselves up one place to 14th.

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