Amorim Time? Tactical takeaways as Man United win a thriller over Lyon after extra time | OneFootball

Manchester United give away and then reclaim the lead against Lyon in dramatic fashion and advance to the Europa League semi finals.

Manchester United miraculously came back from 2-4 down to beat Lyon 5-4 in the Europa League quarter-finals. The French side had already performed a sort of miracle of their own, scoring twice within five minutes to equalize the aggregate score and send the game to extra time, but what happened after that is beyond all human comprehension.

Now after the final whistle, it’s almost impossible to imagine that this was once a calm and seemingly controlled 2-0 lead in favour of the Red Devils until the 70th minute. So let’s begin with how they got there in the first place.

Man United’s long passes finally connect

Manchester United have favoured long and direct play under Ruben Amorim, often prioritising verticality over keeping possession but rather trying to find runners behind the line and being vertical. They are never shy to let their opponents have more of the ball, even at Old Trafford.

Still, they seemed in total control in the first half with 42% possession. Ruben Amorim’s men outshot Lyon eight to seven times and accumulated almost twice as many Expected Goals (0.96 xG to 0.56 xG) in the opening 45 minutes.

Much of it was due to the amount of danger they were bringing to the opponent’s box through long passes. Lyon’s defence isn’t very solid in general, but they really had a hard time dealing with the long diagonal balls Man United kept throwing at them.

That’s how the Red Devils got their first two goals: from Mazraoui to Bruno Fernandes and from Maguire to Dalot. Bruno also hit the woodwork after receiving a long ball from his compatriot between both goals.

To their credit, Manchester United also seemed to have more dynamics in play to make the long passes connect than in other recent games, where sometimes it feels like they’re booting it forward rather than having rehearsed movements to try and find spaces.

Lyon tap into United’s weaknesses

Manager Paulo Fonseca made one substitution (two, rather, but more about that later) that completely changed the game. However, even while losing 1-0 and 2-0 in the first half, Lyon managed to scare Manchester United with one aspect that seems to be a big problem: defending crosses.

Whether they were from corners, indirect free kicks or open play, Lyon’s crosses generated pressure and danger to André Onana’s box. However, the Cameroonian was inspired and performed great saves to keep United’s lead intact.

The second half was different, though. Man United naturally took a step back and let Lyon have more of the ball, but they started suffering more when Malick Fofana came off the bench. He gave the French side the width they were lacking in their initial 4-3-1-2, which allowed them to spread the Red Devils’ back five.

Meanwhile, Alexandre Lacazette, another substitute, was causing trouble inside the box occupying both Luke Shaw and Patrick Dorgu while Ainsley Maitland-Niles attacked the far post completely unmarked. That’s precisely how they scored the equaliser, already having found the net in a set piece five minutes earlier. The constant was Patrick Dorgu, who did a poor job contesting the duels in both plays.

Defenders doing the work

Manchester United scored five past Lyon, but it was mostly due to their defensive players’ work. Not just in terms of goals and assists, with the likes of Harry Maguire, Diogo Dalot, Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte all getting involved, but also in their tactical impact.

The two holding midfielders were incredibly active in the attacking half – and even the final third. Ruben Amorim took the risk of having both of them pressing up high and it paid off multiple times. That’s how they finished the game having forced 20 high turnovers – the third-most of any game under the Portuguese head coach. Not to mention the fact that both of them scored (Ugarte) or assisted (Casemiro, twice).

Besides that, Leny Yoro’s carries also helped to put a lot of pressure on United’s attacking left side, allowing the team to manipulate Lyon’s full-pitch man-marking and adding a third element to the Dorgu-Garnacho combinations that were already causing problems. The Argentinian, specifically, deserves a special shout for messing up Lyon’s defensive system with drives in general, take-ons completed (4), and fouls won (2).

There’s also credit due to United’s buildup from deep. Mazraoui and Maguire both contributing a lot in this regard. Speaking of the English centre-back, he once again was deployed as a striker in a desperate attempt to win the game. He had already gotten himself in great goalscoring situations against Nottingham Forest with three shots and 0.60 xG, but this time he converted, scoring the winner with his head and amassing 0.45 xG in total.

The sole fact that Manchester United had to drag themselves back into the game after giving away a safe lead exposes a lot of problems and weaknesses that need to be worked on. Still, the 5-4 win over Lyon also showed a lot of promising offensive signs and things they can lean on going forward. The Red Devils and Ruben Amorim will certainly celebrate one of the most epic comebacks in recent memory – and deservedly so.