Ruben Amorim heaped praise on Altay Bayindir and Joshua Zirkzee after the much-maligned pair became Manchester United “heroes”, telling them: “In one week, your life can change”.
Amorim’s United produced the finest moment of his tenure so far with a gripping FA Cup victory over Arsenal on Sunday, reaching the Fourth Round with a penalty shootout win despite playing for an hour with ten men.
Goalkeeper Bayindir had been heavily criticised after two costly errors in the Carabao Cup quarter-final defeat to Tottenham last month and some supporters were dismayed to hear that he would be given the nod to start ahead of Andre Onana at the Emirates.
The Turkish goalkeeper justified the call, however, with twin penalty saves, first denying Martin Odegaard in normal time to keep the score at 1-1 and then pushing Kai Havertz’s spot-kick round the post in the shootout’s decisive moment.
“It’s really important, not just for him but all the players,” Amorim said. “Your life as a footballer has cycles and moments. Sometimes in one week, your life can change.
“You can can see Altay. Against Tottenham, everybody was pointing the finger at him and I understand that. Today he was our hero also.”
Summer signing Zirkzee, meanwhile, was substituted before half-time during United’s defeat to Newcastle earlier this month and was jeered by sections of his own support.
The Dutchman, though, came off the bench here to slot the winning penalty in United’s 5-3 shootout win.
“Joshua a few weeks ago had a small problem with our fans,” Amorim added. “Today, every time he’s going on the pitch, you felt the support from the fans.
“And then he has the last penalty. Life is like that. You have to stay humbled, work every day and your time will come.”
