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Ruben Amorim faced a must-win game and his players performed for him - Getty Images /Gareth Copley
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Ruben Amorim has long been of the view that one result can be a springboard to better things. Whether this can be that overdue catalyst remains to be seen but, just when the embattled Manchester United manager needed his players to deliver for him the most, they produced that rare sight: a straightforward, unfussy victory. Old Trafford had largely forgotten what those look like.
Amorim may argue this performance was no better than one or two others this season. But the difference was United finally demonstrated some end product and, but for the intervention of the Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs, they would have had more than Mason Mount and Benjamin Sesko’s goals to show for a solid afternoon’s work.
United’s Portuguese manager had come into this game under intense pressure. Another defeat really could have stretched the club’s patience to breaking point only 11 months after his appointment. But a fourth loss of the campaign never looked likely once Sesko had doubled their advantage shortly after the half-hour mark. In fact, this was United’s most convincing win since a 3-0 victory over Leicester in March.
There were a few anxious moments late in the first period when Sunderland were initially awarded a penalty for a perceived high boot by Sesko on Trai Hume. Fortunately for United, referee Stuart Attwell applied some common sense to correctly rule that there was no foul after being sent to the pitchside monitor to review the incident.
From the subsequent corner by Granit Xhaka, substitute Daniel Ballard headed a great chance into the side-netting. Senne Lammens, given his first start in goal since his £18.1 million move from Royal Antwerp on deadline day, also made a decent save late on to deny substitute Chemsdine Talbi. Sunderland, though, were distinctly second best for much of a game in which Mount, Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo all impressed and Sesko claimed his second goal in as many games.
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Benjamin Sesko celebrates doubling Manchester United’s lead - PA/Martin Rickett
There is a two-week break now for the latest round of internationals before United resume their campaign away to Liverpool. All bar one of Amorim’s previous nine league wins as United manager have been followed by a defeat - the exception was a draw to Arsenal last season following a 3-2 victory over Ipswich - so he could really do with breaking that hoodoo at Anfield.
Back-to-back league wins have so far proved elusive for Amorim so there would be nowhere better to break that duck than at the home of the champions and United’s most bitter rivals. United have to find some momentum from somewhere. After all, lurching from game to game is ultimately unsustainable.
United are a fragile construct but it must have felt cathartic for Amorim to see his opposite number Regis Le Bris, opting to shuffle his pack in the 37th minute and switch from a back four to a 3-4-3 in a desperate bid to stymie their opponent’s attacking thrusts and gain a foothold in the game. Mount and Bryan Mbeumo were dangerous in behind Sesko and Amad enjoyed a welcome return to form, asking Sunderland plenty of questions from right wing back where he cut inside to good effect time and again and dovetailed well with Mbeumo. Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro competed well in central midfield and it was an assured debut from Lammens.
There were playful cheers when Lammens twice caught high aerial balls cleanly in either half - an ironic nod to the susceptibility of both Andre Onana and Altay Bayindir in that department. How United supporters enjoyed seeing a goalkeeper commanding his area. There will be much tougher tests to come but this was a positive first outing for the Belgian, who was clearly under instruction from Amorim to go long at almost every opportunity. The manager was clearly taking no chances here but the direct approach worked. Mount and Mbeumo’s clever movement caused Sunderland numerous problems and Amad was a persistent threat off the right.
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Senne Lammens jumps for the ball with Daniel Ballard - Getty Images/Shaun Brooks
If United can keep Mount fit he will be an asset. He took his goal here extremely well, killing Mbeumo’s cross with his left before bending in a shot with his right. Le Bris will have been annoyed to see Omar Alderete turn his back on the shot, though.
There was another good finish for United’s second. Nordi Mukiele inadvertently headed on Diogo Dalot’s long throw-in and Sesko reacted first to hook a cushioned volley past Roefs. It had to be good to beat the Sunderland goalkeeper. He had made stops from Amad and Mbeumo before producing a wonder save to deny Fernandes. The United captain had dug out a great shot that was heading for the top corner only for Roefs to push it on to a post. United should have scored from the rebound but Amad should have put the ball on a plate for Mount only to miscue his header.
There were not too many missteps on the day, though. The question now is whether they can build on this against Liverpool.
Amorim on Sesko
Amorim reacts
Mount reacts
Sesko reacts
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Has Sesko finally arrived at Manchester United? - Shutterstock/Pete Powell
FULL TIME: Man Utd 2 Sunderland 0
All over at Old Trafford. Second half was a non-event but Amorim and United won’t care. Three important points, another goal for Sesko and a clean sheet for Lammens on debut.
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Sesko finished coolly past Roefs - David Blunsden
90+3mins: Man Utd 2 Sunderland 0
Cunha is desperate to break his duck for United but has been rash with the opportunities he’s had. A bit more composure from the Brazilian needed.
90mins: Man Utd 2 Sunderland 0
Flowing move for Sunderland through the middle, Talbi hits a shot and Lammens deals with it well again.
88mins: Man Utd 2 Sunderland 0
Lammens comes out to claim a catch. Aside from that moment with Traore, he has had a solid match in goal for United. Enough to be Amorim’s No 1 full time now.
84mins: Man Utd 2 Sunderland 0
Man Utd sub:
OFF Casemiro and Yoro
ON Ugarte and Maguire
Amorim has entered lockdown mode. He wants to see this through and keep a clean shee.
80mins: Man Utd 2 Sunderland 0
Casemiro is the latest name in the referee’s book after catching Brobbey. A cynical one but needs must as he stops a Sunderland counter.
78mins: Man Utd 2 Sunderland 0
Sunderland sub:
OFF Hume
ON Geertruida
76mins: Man Utd 2 Sunderland 0
Yellow card for Xhaka after catching Cunha.
Man Utd sub:
OFF Mbeumo
ON Mainoo
Big cheers for the arrival of the academy graduate.
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Amorim brings on Mainoo - Getty Images/Paul Ellis
73mins: Man Utd 2 Sunderland 0
Into the final 20 minutes at Old Trafford. The home side are keeping Sunderland at arm’s length as they look pick up a vital three points. But they need to be mindful of Brobbey, who has been lively since coming on.
67mins: Arsenal 2 West Ham 0 GOAL
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Bukayo Saka has doubled Arsenal’s lead from the spot. John Brooks, today’s referee, awarded the penalty after El Hadji Malick Diouf bundled Jurrien Timber to the ground.
To my eyes, it looked like the contact was made outside the box. But I’m a long way away... West Ham might feel a little aggrieved.
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Getty Images/Julian Finney
64mins: Man Utd 2 Sunderland 0
Man Utd subs:
OFF Dalot and Mount
ON Dorgu and Cunha
Nice ovation for Mount, who has not had the easiest time at Old Trafford.
60mins: Man Utd 2 Sunderland 0
Sunderland subs:
OFF Isidor, Traore, Masuaku
ON Mayenda, Brobbey and Talbi
‘Yet to see any real attacking ambition from West Ham’
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We’re still yet to see any real attacking ambition from West Ham at the Emirates. That’s a measure of Arsenal’s control of the game, to an extent, but equally Nuno’s side have hardly left their own half of the pitch since the break. At one point they will have to open up.
57mins: Man Utd 2 Sunderland 0
Traore booked for diving. Lammens comes flying out and the Sunderland man goes down just outside the box. There’s contact but the referee thinks there was simulation and punishes the Sunderland player.
54mins: Man Utd 2 Sunderland 0
Chance from Mbeumo. Nice build up, they counter quickly and the ball falls to the wide man but he rushes his shot and goes it well wide.
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Mbeumo reacts after missing a chance - Reuters/Scott Heppell
50mins: Man Utd 2 Sunderland 0
Sunderland have started the half positively so far there’s no way through the United defence.
Back underway at the Emirates and Old Trafford
Play resumes in the 3pm kick-offs. Can the away teams come back or will we get two home wins?
Silky football from Amorim’s men
Official ruling on the VAR decision at Old Trafford
HALF TIME: Arsenal 1 West Ham 0
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Arsenal lead 1-0 at the break and it really should be two. Eze missed a glorious chance after 13 minutes and then Calafiori struck the post just before half-time. West Ham are yet to offer anything in attack...
HALF TIME: Man Utd 2 Sunderland 0
That miss from Ballard is the final action of the half at Old Trafford. Sunderland will feel they should have got one goal at least but United have been very good today.
A start and goal for Mount, back-to-back goals for Sesko. Looks like Amorim will be keeping his job for now...
45+6mins: Man Utd 2 Sunderland 0
‘No foul by the Man Utd player. Corner to Sunderland’
Relief for the home side. From the resulting corner, Xhaka swings it in and at the far post Ballard heads wide. Should have done better.
45+5mins: Man Utd 2 Sunderland 0
Sunderland want a penalty. They think Sesko has caught Hume with a high foot. Nothing given on the pitch initially. Then the referee gives it.
VAR is looking at it and the ref asks him to look at the screen.
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Referee Stuart Attwell checks the pitch-side monitor - Getty Images/Paul Ellis
44mins: Man Utd 2 Sunderland 0
First action for Lammens as a Man Utd player. Xhaka hits a drive from distance but the United keeper watches it all the way and pushes it away for a corner.
38mins: Arsenal 1 West Ham 0 GOAL
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Arsenal have the breakthrough and it’s Declan Rice against his old club. It’s a goal that had been coming, with the pressure growing to near-intolerable levels over the last five minutes. The goal is all about the midfield three: Zubimendi found Eze, whose shot was saved by Areola. Rice powered home the rebound.
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Reuters/Peter Cziborra
‘This has been the best Manchester United have played in a while’
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This has been the best Manchester United have played in a while. All areas of the team are functioning well and there looks to be a plan. Senne Lammens getting rid of the ball - the opposite of Andre Onana’s style - is working. Sunderland have brought on Daniel Ballard as a first-half sub to change their shape.
37mins: Man Utd 2 Sunderland 0
Sunderland sub:
OFF Adingra
ON Ballard
A centre-back on for an attacker. Looks like Sunderland are moving to three at the back. Prior to the sub, Sadiki is late on Fernandes in midfield and becomes the first player to receive a yellow card.
‘Sunderland are not out of it yet’
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While Benjamin Sesko was celebrating his second goal in as many games, Sunderland players all huddled together for an impromptu team meeting. It is 2-0 but they are not out of it yet.
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Players of Sunderland engage in a team talk, after Benjamin Sesko’s goal - Getty Images/Carl Recine
‘Odegaard is having a horribly unlucky time with injury’
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Martin Odegaard is having a horribly unlucky time with injury this season. For the third consecutive home league game, he has been forced off the pitch with a problem. This time it’s his knee, after a painful collision with Crysencio Summerville.
Martin Zubimendi has replaced the Arsenal captain, which should allow Declan Rice to push forward into a more advanced position.
31mins: Man Utd 2 Sunderland 0 GOAL
Two in two for Sesko. Long throw into the Sunderland box, the ball is flicked on and lands at the feet of the Slovenian, who holds off his man and fires into the net.
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Manchester United’s Benjamin Sesko celebrates scoring - PA/Martin Rickett
‘Roefs is having an excellent game’
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Robin Roefs is having an excellent game. That save from Bruno Fernandes - tipping the ball onto the woodwork - came after keeping out Bryan Mbeumo and Amad. Sunderland paid around £11.5million for the 22-year-old in a deal that went under the radar this summer but he will catch the eye of bigger teams with form like this.
27mins: Man Utd 1 Sunderland 0
Amad feeds Fernandes, who shoots from distance and his shot is tipped onto the bar by Roefs. It was going right in the postage stamp. From the rebound, Amad attempts to finish but drags his effort across the goal.
25mins: Man Utd 1 Sunderland 0
It is lashing it down at Old Trafford. When it rains in Manchester, it really can chuck it down. Tough conditions for all involved.
23mins: Man Utd 1 Sunderland 0
Mbeumo drives forward, shifts the ball to his left foot and fires an effort from the edge of the box that Roefs parries clear.
Pressure is mounting on the Sunderland defence.
21mins: Man Utd 1 Sunderland 0
Haven’t seen much from Sesko so far but his partners in attack, Mount and Mbeumo, have been very lively.
Debutant Lammens is yet to be tested in the United goal.
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Lammens in action - Getty Images/Carl Recine
17mins: Man Utd 1 Sunderland 0
Sunderland testing United with a few long throws into the box. The wind will play a big part today but the home side is managing the situation for now.
16mins: Arsenal 0 West Ham 0
Arsenal should be ahead here. Eze has missed a sitter. Six yards out, facing the goal, he somehow ballooned the ball over the bar. It was a lovely move to create the chance, with Odegaard feeding Saka. Arsenal are dominant.
14mins: Arsenal 0 West Ham 0
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Mikel Arteta has named an adventurous and creative team today, with Eberechi Eze and Martin Odegaard both playing in midfield, and Arsenal have started the match on the front foot (as you would probably expect).
West Ham will need to do a lot of defensive work today. That much is already clear, with Eze and Odegaard both looking sharp in the opening minutes. The good news for West Ham is that they have an encouraging recent record at the Emirates, winning their last two matches here.
‘First goal for Mount since May’
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First goal for Mason Mount since May and a hark back to the days when he was in the England team and one of the coolest finishers in the Premier League. Steered his finish into the bottom corner after a lovely touch off Bryan Mbeumo’s cross.
8mins: Man Utd 1 Sunderland 0 GOAL
Just what Amorim needed and you can hear the relief around Old Trafford. Mount is unmarked in the box, Mbeumo finds him and the United No 7 fires coolly past Roefs.
4mins: Man Utd 0 Sunderland 0
Chance for Sunderland. Traore is six yards out but completely misses his kick after a cut back from Adingra. Traore’s blushes are spared by the fact that the offside flag is up.
2mins: Man Utd 0 Sunderland 0
Nice applause for Lammens as he gets his first touch of the game. United supporters will hope Amorim has finally found his man in goal.
Kick Off
We are underway at the Emirates and Old Trafford!
Minute’s silence
Before we get underway, there is an impeccably observed minute’s silence in tribute of the victims of Thursday’s terror attack on a synagogue in Greater Manchester.
Players will also wear black armbands as a mark of respect for the two men who died in the attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall.
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Players observe a minute’s silence for the victims of the Manchester synagogue attack - Getty Images/Paul Ellis
A reminder of the teams
Man Utd: Lammens, Yoro, De Ligt, Shaw, Diallo, Casemiro, Fernandes, Dalot, Mbeumo, Mount, Sesko.
Subs: Bayindir, Maguire, Cunha, Zirkzee, Dorgu, Ugarte, Heaven, Leon, Mainoo.
Sunderland: Roefs, Hume, Mukiele, Alderete, Masuaku, Xhaka, Sadiki, Traore, Le Fee, Adingra, Isidor.
Subs: Patterson, Neil, Ballard, Geertruida, Talbi, Brobbey, Rigg, Mayenda, O’Nien.
Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Odegaard, Rice, Eze, Saka, Gyokeres, Trossard.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Mosquera, White, Martinelli, Norgaard, Nwaneri, Merino, Zubimendi, Lewis-Skelly.
West Ham: Areola, Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Kilman, Diouf, Magassa, Bowen, Fernandes, Lucas Paqueta, Summerville, Fullkrug.
Subs: Hermansen, Walker-Peters, Igor, Wilson, Luis Guilherme, Rodriguez, Scarles, Potts, Marshall.
Man Utd player audit: Who has improved and who has gone backwards under Amorim?
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One of Ruben Amorim’s primary tasks when he joined Manchester United last November was to maximise the untapped potential in the squad.
United’s hierarchy felt there was an array of players who, with better coaching and the right attention and support, had a much higher ceiling than they had shown previously – and believed Amorim would help to bring out the best in them.
The intention was to move away from a culture of persistent upheaval that was viewed as both financially unsustainable and destructive to coherent squad building.
Eleven months on, after a raft of exits and shambolic results on the pitch, there has been scant evidence of any of that.
Many of the players Amorim inherited have either gone backwards, stood still or been offloaded or frozen out by a head coach who seemed to form very quick judgments about who he did and did not want.
Most have looked lost or like square pegs in round holes in his 3-4-2-1 system and even the improvements in some have felt short-lived, fragile or laced with caveats. Of the 17 ever-present Premier League sides since Amorim took charge, only Tottenham Hotspur have taken fewer points than United’s 34 across 33 games. It is relegation form.
With Amorim under enormous pressure heading into Saturday’s must-win game at home to Sunderland, Telegraph Sport audits the players the Portuguese inherited – including those now jettisoned – and gives a verdict on whether they have improved, gone backwards or stood still on his watch.
Click here to read.
Amorim explains Lammens decision
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Manchester United goalkeeper Senne Lammens warms up - PA/Martin Rickett
Old Trafford team news explained
Amorim has made five changes from last weekend’s defeat to Brentford.
Goalkeeper Senne Lammens is poised for his debut, following his deadline day arrival from Royal Antwerp last month, while Amad returns to the line-up following a period of compassionate leave.
Elsewhere, Leny Yoro, Casemiro and Mason Mount are back in the XI, with Matheus Cunha, Kobbie Mainoo and Joshua Zirkzee among the potential reinforcements from the bench.
Sunderland are captained by former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka on their first visit to M16 in almost a decade.
The away side have made a flying start to the season on their return to the Premier League and, fresh from an away win over Nottingham Forest last weekend, boss Regis Le Bris makes two changes to his team.
Both switches come in attacking areas, with Simon Adingra and Bertrand Traore coming into the side.
West Ham starting XI
Arsenal starting XI
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Timber and Calafiori return to the XI
Rice and Eze the midfield engine room
️Saka on the wing
Let's do this, Gunners
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) October 4, 2025
Sunderland starting XI
Manchester United starting XI
Must win game for Amorim
Hello and welcome to coverage from the Premier League as Man Utd host Sunderland and Arsenal welcome West Ham to the Emirates.
At Old Trafford, United manager Ruben Amorim faces a critical match as Telegraph Sport understands he could be sacked if his team loses.
Another defeat in United’s last outing before the international break, after which they travel to Anfield to face Premier League leaders Liverpool, could severely test the patience of co-owners Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazers.
Amorim himself admitted on Friday he could be sacked if results do not improve quickly and that it will be “impossible” for United to stand by him if things reach a tipping point.
“Nobody here is naive,” the United head coach said. “We understand that we need results to continue the project. We will reach a point that is impossible for everyone because this is a very big club with a lot of sponsors, with two owners. So it’s hard – the balance is really hard.”
Sunderland have enjoyed a very good start to the season with goalkeeper Robin Roefs, in particular, a revelation having signed for just £12m from NEC Nijmegen after only 40 senior appearances in the Eredivisie. The 22-year-old has been so good, he is expected to make his international debut for the Netherlands next week.
Elsewhere at 3pm, Arsenal could go top of the league with a win over West Ham. Mikel Arteta takes charge of his 300th game as manager, boasting a higher win percentage than any of his predecessors who chalked up more than 50 matches, but a familiar danger looms in the shape of the away side.
Arsenal have lost only four of their last 42 Premier League home games, but half of those defeats were against West Ham, who will try to claim an unlikely victory in north London for the third successive season.
West Ham won 1-0 last season and 2-0 in the campaign before that, odd results considering Arsenal won the corresponding away fixtures 6-0 and 5-2.
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