Ruben Amorim after Manchester United are knocked out of FA Cup: ‘We have a goal and we continue forward no matter what’ | OneFootball

Ruben Amorim says Manchester United will continue working to their long-term targets after getting knocked out of the FA Cup on penalties by Fulham.

United fell behind just before the break to Calvin Bassey’s header, but fought back to equalise through Bruno Fernandes’ perfectly placed strike midway through the second period.

Neither side could find a breakthrough in normal time then extra time, with a penalty shootout on the cards. But it was Fulham who would progress to the quarter-finals after Victor Lindelof and Joshua Zirkzee both missed in the shootout.

When asked to analyse the match, Amorim felt United were the better team, but were unlucky with the lottery that are penalties:

“We managed to score in the second half after that goal near half-time,” Amorim said. “It’s harder for us to go and press a little bit high but we managed to do it and score. I think we have the best chances in the game. In the end, the penalties can go both ways and today wasn’t our way.

“It is important to say that with the substitutions we had our chance to win the game.

“I think we are better in the first ball than the second ball. I think it is also sometimes the quality of the players. Bruno, Casemiro, and Josh [Zirkzee] are improving a lot.”

Despite another missed opportunity to progress in a cup competition, Amorim says the ultimate goal is Premier League glory, although a timeframe on that is too early to call.

“The goal is to win the Premier League. I know that we are losing games but the goal is to win the Premier League again. I don’t know how long it will take.

“We have a goal and we continue forward no matter what. it’s impossible to know but you start understanding the players are better and we understand the league. We’ll see in the future.

“It’s really important but we have to recover the players. They were really tired and we have three days and then here at Old Trafford against Arsenal.”