Ruben Amorim says he loves his players ‘when they put effort in’ after thrilling win over Burnley

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim was not at all impressed with his players after they had suffered a 12-11 (penalty shootout) loss against Grimsby Town. However, the Portuguese manager was delighted after his men registered their first Premier League 2025-26 win against Burnley as they claimed a dramatic 3-2 win at Old Trafford on Saturday.

The home team dominated the first half and they were put in front after Josh Cullen scored an own goal. But after the break, Lyle Foster equalized for the visitors however, United came up with an immediate response to take back their lead as Bryan Mbeumo scored his maiden Premier League goal. 

But United’s lead was short-lived as Jaidon Anthony found the back of the net in the 66th minute. However, in the stoppage time, United were able to get a penalty, which captain Bruno Fernandes converted after missing his target in the last game.

Speaking after their win over Burnley, Amorim said: “When they [his players] put the effort, I will always love them.

“Even when Amad is missing that goal – I love Amad, if he’s giving everything.

“We need to understand that we always need to be at this level of effort. Because even in the game, we played well in the beginning. I think we struggled when we changed the characteristics of the players because the match is not so perfect and you can feel the players struggle a little bit, even in the second half but the effort was always there.

“We tried to put people in the box. We tried to put more people inside the box, not just around the box to play the ball. Some of the things we were doing during the week and spoke about they were doing that and were focused on the game. So that is the most important thing.”

However, United suffered a huge blow as both Mason Mount and Matheus Cunha suffered injuries.

United will next take on derby rivals Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.