With Dorgu out, Cunha’s role on the left is set

Despite everything, from the crushing defeats vs. Brentford, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Arsenal, and Everton to the downright embarrassing EFL Cup elimination vs. Grimsby Town to the three straight stalemates to close out the Rúben Amorim era, Manchester United are sitting pretty in the Champions League positions. The Red Devils occupy fourth place in the table, six points behind Manchester City, five behind Aston Villa, and 12 points behind Arsenal. Moreover, they sit one point above reigning FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Conference League champions Chelsea, as well as two points above reigning Premier League winners Liverpool.

In his first two matches in charge as interim manager, Michael Carrick led United fans to their finest week in recent memory, going from beating Manchester City 2-0, who have ruled the Premier League for the past decade, to winning 3-2 at the Emirates and securing a valuable three points against the league leaders. But if there was one blemish on an otherwise perfect Sunday, it was the news that came after the match, with Patrick Dorgu confirmed to miss the next 10 weeks with a hamstring injury.

After a challenging start to his Old Trafford career, the Danish youngster found his footing after being transformed from a left back / left wingback role and positioned further forward as a left winger. Similarly to other players like Alen Skribek, Dorgu combined blistering pace with a willingness to get stuck in and unpredictable dribbling skills, prompting him to enjoy success in the final third. Having grabbed his second goal contribution of the season (and first in three months) by assisting Matheus Cunha’s equalizer in a 2-1 defeat at Villa, Dorgu would follow that up by scoring the sole goal of the match vs. Newcastle, before assisting Benjamin Šeško’s second goal against Burnley two weeks later.

And after dropping to the left back position in their FA Cup defeat vs. Brighton, Dorgu was moved back to a left winger role vs. City and Arsenal – as a result, Cunha was forced to start the game from both matches from the bench. On both occasions, the Brazilian made his presence felt, assisting Dorgu’s goal to secure their Manchester derby win. The following match, meanwhile, would see United fall behind via an early own goal before scoring on either side of the interval via Mbuemo and Dorgu. And when Mikel Merino pulled Arsenal level, Cunha wasted no time in responding, securing a 3-2 victory in North London.

Born in João Pessoa, Brazil, Cunha developed at Coritiba’s academy before moving to Swiss club Sion, where he emerged as one of the most promising center forwards in Europe before plying his trade in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig and Hertha BSC. He then made the move to Atlético Madrid in August 2021, where he struggled to convince under Diego Simeone before heading to England in January 2023 and joining Wolverhampton Wanderers. Cunha went from zero in Madrid to hero in Molineux, racking up 33 goals and 15 assists in 92 appearances and proving indispensable in helping them stave off the drop. It’s why he had his fair share of offers from England’s biggest clubs, but only one club – Manchester United – were able to win the race for the Brazilian forward.

After a turbulent start that saw him squander the would-be winning penalty at Grimsby and fail to score until October 25, Cunha, similarly to Dorgu, started to hit his form during the holiday period. Having bagged a brace in his return to his former stomping grounds in Wolves, Cunha then scored against Bournemouth and Villa before blanking in his next two matches and then kicking off the new year with a goal at Leeds. Cunha was kept under wraps in his next two matches, but he stepped up and led from the bench with two major contributions against two of the finest sides in Europe, earning praise from the likes of Tiago Costa Rocha. And with Dorgu unavailable, Cunha stepped up and delivered on the left side of attack with a Man of the Match display on Sunday. Having drawn their last two meetings 1-1, Cunha proved essential in giving United the edge over Fulham. While it was Benjamin Šeško who scored the last-second winner, Cunha delivered a goal and one key pass to lead United to yet another victory.

Can United make it four wins on the bounce against Tottenham? If they are to do so and continue their march towards a Champions League qualification, they’ll need Cunha to bring his best once again.