Winners and Losers as Man Utd struggle on Ruben Amorim's debut

Ruben Amorim's Manchester United debut ended in a disappointing 1-1 draw with Ipswich.

Amorim's Man Utd got off to a flying start as Marcus Rashford opened the scoring just 81 seconds into the game.

That goal should have set the stage for Man Utd to push on and dominate the game, but they were instead passive and allowed Ipswich to play their way into form and score an equaliser at the end of the first-half.

The second-half was a more sedate affair as neither side did enough to secure the big win they so desperately craved.

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Who were the winners and losers of the contest?

Winner: Andre Onana

The game ended up as a draw, but that was only because of Andre Onana. If not for the Cameroonian goalkeeper then Ruben Amorim's Man Utd debut would have ended in ignominious defeat.

Ipswich won the xG battle with their illustrious visitors. To sum that in non-geek-speak: they had the best chances. In particular a pair of efforts for Liam Delap either side of half-time when two lovely Ipswich attacks saw him put 1-v-1 against Onana from about five yards out each time.

Onana stood colossal against Delap each time, producing sensational saves to deny the Ipswich striker. And the goal he did concede to Hutchinson only went in because of a deflection off Noussair Mazraoui.

Loser: Joshua Zirkzee

When Joshua Zirkzee came onto the pitch with 22 minutes left to play, he would have hoped to make a positive impact on the game. Instead of left absolutely no impact on the game.

Zirkzee looked slow to link play and clueless at when he had to get forward. Ruben Amorim even commented after the game that: "Josh [has] to understand, he has to get to the box."

To make matters worse when there was a chance to break forward and catch Ipswich out, Zirkzee lost a sprint towards a loose ball to Ipswich goalkeeper Muric.

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Winner: Amad Diallo

Man Utd's opening goal was scored by Marcus Rashford but all the credit has to go to Amad Diallo for creating it from a non-threatening situation inside his own half.

The Ivorian winger exchanged passes with Bruno Fernandes and raced down the right, skipping by Ipswich defenders before crossing for Rashford.

The assist was far from his only highlight as Amad routinely looked like Man Utd's only genuine threat on the ball (Alejandro Garnacho's runs off the ball were brilliant but he was so poor with it).

There was a moment at the death where Man Utd passed the ball aimlessly side to side for nearly 60 seconds straight before Amad made something happen by simply driving the ball forward into the box.

He's a superstar in the making.

Loser: Casemiro and Jonny Evans

While Christian Eriksen looked legless but at least vaguely useful with the ball at his feet, Casemiro and Jonny Evans just looked legless.

Of course they're probably not going to feature in Man Utd's regular first-choice XI (both men were replaced by Manuel Ugarte and Luke Shaw this afternoon) but their performances were nevertheless remarkable in their terribleness.

Winner: Kobbie Mainoo

Players can often increase their reputation without playing, when their back-ups fail to performance. And that is absolutely the case with Kobbie Mainoo at Portman Road, as without him in the midfield Man Utd looked horrible.

The complexity of Ruben Amorim's system was never going to be a instant "get" for the Man Utd squad - as Amorim himself said to Sky Sports: "in this first moment we will have problems, the players will not understand."

But the lack of understanding from Casemiro, Christian Eriksen and yes, even Bruno Fernandes to a degree, will massively increase the reputation of young Kobbie Mainoo. Man Utd fans will now be expecting him to save the day.

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Loser: Man Utd fans

Man Utd fans are the final loser because of that expectation, however. Not just their expectation in Kobbie Mainoo, but also just their hopes that Ruben Amorim could arrive and instantly transform the team's fortunes.

Well, in Ruben Amorim's own words: "We will need a lot of time, a lot of time."

Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Amorim made it clear where his team was lacking: "we have to be so much better, physically."

But Amorim made sure to point out it's not just a physical issue: "The system is the system, but the understanding of the game we have to improve."

There is so much work to be done. Man Utd fans better buckle up because this is going to be a long, long ride for Ruben Amorim to right the Red Devils' ship.