Ruben Amorim says he is looking forward to catching up with Ruud van Nistelrooy after Manchester United were drawn against Leicester City in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
United, the defending champions, secured their spot in the next round after a spirited victory over 14-time winners Arsenal on Sunday afternoon.
It was a topsy-turvy clash at the Emirates, with Gabriel Magalhaes cancelling out Bruno Fernandes’ opener in a breathless second half which also saw Diogo Dalot sent off.
The hosts were guilty of squandering a number of golden opportunities across the contest, most notably in the 71st minute when club captain Martin Odegaard was denied from the spot by Altay Bayindi.
The Red Devils would go on to prevail on penalties and learned shortly after the final whistle that they would face off against Leicester – who thumped QPR -for a place in the fifth round of the competition.
It means a return to Old Trafford for club legend Van Nistelrooy, the newly appointed Leicester manager, who took charge of United on an interim basis before Amorim’s arrival in November.
The fourth round fixtures are set to take place between February 7 and 10, with this year’s final scheduled for May 17.
‘Yeah, I’m going to see Ruud. I talked to him before I came [to Manchester United] and I’m looking forward to speaking with him,’ a beaming Amorim told Optus Sport shortly after the fourth-round draw was made.
‘He’s a class guy but we need to win. Maybe we will be divided.
‘He loves this club, we will see… but we need to win.’
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While conceding that Arsenal had more chances on goal, Amorim felt his side ‘deserved to win’.
‘Thankfully the players were there. They fought,’ the Portuguese added.
‘What we talk about is sometimes not tactical or technical before the match, it’s this. We have to compete no matter what the situation.
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‘I think they had more chances but we deserved the win. It’s not personal… we didn’t deserve to lose but we deserved to win.
‘They way we fought was really tough. Since the beginning, we didn’t have the ball too much but you can control without the ball.’
Amorim gave special mention to United’s travelling support after one of his more enjoyable days at the start of his reign in the north west.
‘I want to say thank you to the fans. I didn’t understand that all that area was our supporters so it was a good day for us,’ he continued.
‘But now we have to rest some players. I’m already thinking in the next game they are really tired.
‘We need to win but let’s see.’
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