Ruben Amorim defended Patrick Dorgu after Manchester United survived his early error and first-half sending off to beat fellow strugglers Ipswich 3-2 at Old Trafford.

But the Portuguese will speak to fellow 20-year-old Alejandro Garnacho after the winger headed straight down the tunnel having been taken off during the reshuffle that followed the red card.

The breathless Premier League encounter started with Jaden Philogene capitalising on a calamitous mix up between Dorgu and goalkeeper Andre Onana to tap home and silence Old Trafford.

Sam Morsy’s own goal and a Matthijs de Ligt effort put United ahead, only for the Dane’s poor challenge on Omari Hutchinson to earn a red card after referee Darren England reviewed the pitchside monitor on the VAR’s advice.

Ipswich levelled just before the break as Philogene’s cross crept past Onana but Harry Maguire’s header moments into the second half proved enough for just Amorim to collect just his fifth league win in charge.

“Everybody when they watch that ball were thinking ‘here we go again’,” the Portuguese said of the Ipswich’s fourth-minute opener.

“But then sometimes football is like that and we managed to fight all the situations during the game and think we truly deserve the three points today.

“The first situation was a misunderstanding, the way they connect each other.

“Then the sending off, the important thing is that I really know Dorgu quite well. He doesn’t want to harm anybody and that is important for me.

“Then you have this situation. He had that mistake and then you feel in the game that he was making a lot of runs, trying to win every ball, being aggressive and sometimes you overdo it and he has these problems today.”

Dorgu’s sending off saw Amorim turn to defender Noussair Mazraoui in place of Garnacho, who headed straight down the touchline to the dressing room after being brought off just before half-time.

The Argentina international posted an Instagram story of him looking dejected walking through the rain shortly after the game.

“It was cold and wet, maybe,” Amorim said of Garnacho’s decision to head down the tunnel. “The thinking was we’d play more in the 5-3-1.

“I know that is a risk because you are taking maybe the only player who has one against one pace but I felt the team was OK in the controlling of the game, almost at half-time.

“Then you make the substitution. We have to choose someone to go out, we have to think about set pieces also, so it was my choice.”

Amorim was later asked to clarify whether he was unhappy with Garnacho and the United boss brought up Marcus Rashford, who recently joined Aston Villa on loan, in his answer.

“You are making a connection with Rashford, right? I know, I know,” he said.

“What I’m saying is I’m going to talk obviously with Garnacho about that, so I will talk about that if you want in the next press conference.”

While United quelled talk of an unthinkable relegation, Ipswich’s wait for a first Premier League win of 2025 continues.

Put to Kieran McKenna it seemed like an opportunity missed, the Town boss said: “Yeah, no doubt about it.

“It’s certainly a very frustrating outcome to the game and we’re really annoyed with the goals that we’ve conceded, to be honest.

“We didn’t manage the situation well in the second half. We did everything that we didn’t want to do and that you don’t want to do in that situation.

“We gave away free-kicks, we gave the crowd energy by getting involved in silly things.

“We lost our shape and we didn’t defend the moments that they had anywhere near well enough, so, yeah, it’s a really poor second half from us and a frustrating night.”

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