Manchester United seem to have accepted their mediocrity, but how long can it go on?

Ruben Amorim is not the biggest problem at Old Trafford, but it is becoming harder to deny he is one of the issues

LONG WALK: Manchester United players walk off the pitch after the Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Manchester United in Manchester, England, Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025. Pic:AP Photo/Dave Thompson

Perhaps the best that can be said of Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United is that you know exactly where you stand with them. It’s 10 months since he was appointed but he is yet to win back-to-back league games. Having beaten Burnley last time out, amid scenes of revealing euphoria, they were never going to win at Manchester City.

Which must have been a relief for City, who had lost two of their first three games this season for the first time in 21 years. There was, for them, particularly after half-time, a pleasing sense of normality returning. Rodri, shaky early on, began to dominate as he used to before his knee injury, while there were fine performances from Erling Haaland, Jérémy Doku and Phil Foden.