Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim defended goalkeeper Altay Bayindir after his blunder proved decisive in a 1-0 home defeat by Arsenal in their Premier League opener.
Bayindir flapped at a 13th-minute corner under pressure from William Saliba, allowing Riccardo Calafiori to nod in at the far post.
United were otherwise the better team as new signings Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo revitalised their attack, but they could not find a way to beat David Raya despite registering 22 shots on goal.
That put the focus even more sharply on Bayindir, who started in place of the injured Andre Onana.
“You’re allowed to do a lot of things in the corner, we need to do the same,” Amorim said when asked if he was disappointed with the goal. “When you touch that way the goalkeeper he needs to use his hands to catch the ball, not push players, or he chooses to push players and let the ball past.
“It is the rules, it is allowed and we need to do the same thing. No, (I’m not saying he should have acted differently) I am saying you choose to push a player or to get the ball, he chose to get the ball but he didn’t push so he cannot defend it.
“That is my feeling when I see the play but again, we need to do the same thing.”
Last season Bayindir conceded directly from a Son Heung-min corner in a 4-3 Carabao Cup defeat at Tottenham, but Amorim rejected criticism of the Turkey international when asked if he had considered starting third-choice Tom Heaton against a team renowned for their threat from corners.
“He suffered a goal like this where? Against Tottenham? It was without VAR. With VAR it was a foul,” Amorim said.
“Then in the next game against Arsenal, who saved the penalty? Who saved the game? You don’t remember the game but I remember the game and Altay was unbelievable in that game. I considered everything to put in one or another and I chose Altay…
“I am happy with the three goalkeepers.”
Despite looking much the sharper of the two teams, United could not recover from that early setback as David Raya repelled the best that Cunha and Mbeumo could throw at him, while Patrick Dorgu hit the outside of a post.
“We were the better team but in the end we lost the game,” Amorim said. “I’m really proud of the work we put on the field and that is important moving forward.”
Arsenal took the points but in a poor performance littered with poor passes and sloppy touches, the only other things to take away was their ability to win on a bad day at the office.
“We did very well to take the set-piece and then there’s the mistakes, some of them unnecessary, some of them unusual, but the way every single player reacted gave us an opportunity to win the game,” Mikel Arteta said.
“That gives you momentum and confidence, two very important things. Our standards weren’t there to be fair, but we can still come away and find a way to win the game. The team has to find that resilience throughout the season for 10 months.”
