Noel Gallagher has predicted Ruben Amorim’s impressive success against Manchester City with Sporting Lisbon will prove to be misleading when he takes over at Manchester United later this month.
The Portuguese manager has agreed to take charge of the Premier League club from November 11 after Erik ten Hag‘s sacking in October. And United’s decision to bring in the 39-year-old was perhaps vindicated after he presided over a stunning 4-1 victory against Pep Guardiola‘s side in the Champions League.
Viktor Gyokeres scored a hat-trick as he overshadowed Erling Haaland, who fluffed his lines from the penalty spot, as Amorim made himself an instant favourite with fans back in Manchester.
Gallagher, however, wasn’t so impressed. The Oasis icon made a guest appearance as part of TNT Sports’ match coverage at the Estadio Jose Alvalade, with fans taking to social media to register their confusion regarding his surprise football commentary debut.
But their dream start in Lisbon turned into a nightmare as City found themselves on the end of a thrashing to make it three straight defeats in all competitions – their worst run under Guardiola since April 2018.
Reacting to Amorim masterminding a victory over the Catalan tactician, Gallagher couldn’t resist taking a dig at the Red Devils – insisting that they should not get their hopes up after their new manager’s memorable triumph. “It’ll give them false hope,” Gallagher said.
Amorim, who waved goodbye to the Sporting supporters after three years in charge, will get his first chance to make the legendary singer eat his words when he takes charge of his first Manchester derby on December 15.
Gallagher could only watch on in misery as his side’s 26-match unbeaten run in Europe came to an abrupt end, with Gyokeres helping himself to a treble to take his tally to 25 goals for club and country this season.
It seemed as if the 2022-23 Champions League winners were going to be heading for victory when Phil Foden smashed home in the first half. But Gyokeres levelled for the Portuguese side after beating Ederson with a fine effort.
Just 20 seconds after the interval, Maximiliano Araujo fired past Ederson to give Sporting the lead and Gyokeres converted a penalty three minutes later to make it 3-1.
To make matters worse, Haaland failed to take his chance from the penalty spot as his effort struck the crossbar as City tried to find a way back into the contest. But their fate was sealed when the indomitable Swede sealed his treble in stoppage time.
Gyokeres, who has been linked with Arsenal and more recently United after Amorim’s appointment, has been tipped to follow his boss to Old Trafford. When speaking about the 26-year-old, Gallagher predicted that “he’ll be at United this time next year”.
After this result, Gyokeres might just be tempted to say ‘Maybe’ to reuniting with Amorim.
