Ruben Amorim says Manchester United's miserable FA Cup exit against Fulham will not distract from their long-term aim, which is to win the Premier League title. (More Football News)
💯United were dumped out of the cup with a 4-3 penalty shoot-out defeat on Sunday, having been held to a 1-1 draw through 120 minutes at Old Trafford.
😼Victor Lindelof and Joshua Zirkzee were both denied by Bernd Leno from 12 yards, while Fulham were perfect with all four of their attempts from the spot.
𒅌This is the earliest United have exited the FA Cup as holders since 1996-97, when Alex Ferguson's side lost to Wimbledon in the fourth round.
꧅Their shoot-out loss, meanwhile, halted a run of three straight wins when going to penalties in the FA Cup, last losing in a shoot-out to Middlesbrough in February 2022 (7-8 under Ralf Rangnick).
ꦺUnited's only shot at silverware in 2024-25 is now the Europa League, as they are languishing in 14th in the Premier League table, but Amorim is still aiming higher.
♐"The goal is to win the Premier League. I know that we are losing games but the goal is to win the Premier League again. I don't know how long it will take," he told BBC Sport.
🔜"We have a goal and we continue forward no matter what. It's impossible to know but you start understanding the players better and we understand the league.
👍"We'll see in the future. It's really important but we have to recover the players. They were really tired and we have three days and then Arsenal here at Old Trafford."
ౠUnited missed several chances to win the tie at the end of the 90 minutes and during the additional period, with youngsters Alejandro Garnacho and Chido Obi both going close.
⛄"We managed to score in the second half after that goal near half-time. It's harder for us to go and press a little bit higher but we managed to do it and score," Amorim said.
𓃲"I think we had the best chances in the game. In the end, the penalties could go both ways and today wasn't our way.
⭕"It is important to say that with the substitutions we had our chance to win the game."
🌠On the shoot-out, in which Raul Jimenez, Sander Berge, Willian and Antonee Robinson all scored for Fulham, he added: "I tried to relax the players.
ꦦ"They know that it is something that is technical, but you have to be relaxed and confident."
