Winners and losers: Eddie Howe ‘under pressure’ after brutal defeat with Brentford star tipped for elite move

Ruben Amorim’s honeymoon period at Manchester United may be over as he slipped to a worrying feat.

Amorim oversaw United’s 3-2 loss to Nottingham Forest at Old Trafford, which condemned him to back-to-back losses for just the second time in his managerial career.

9

One of Amorim’s key men was partly to blame for the result, as he was one of a number of individuals named in talkSPORT duo Jamie O’Hara and Jason Cundy’s winners and losers from Saturday’s action.

Winners

Jhon Duran

Jhon Duran was handed a rare start for Aston Villa and he made the most of it, as his goal proved to be the winner against Southampton.

The Colombian proved to be a menace for the Saints’ backline and will hope to retain his spot in the starting lineup for Villa’s Champions League fixture against RB Leipzig on Tuesday.

“He deserves to be in the winners this week,” Cundy said.

“He takes his time, bides his time and I know he wasn’t happy a couple of weeks ago when he got pulled off in the Champions League but he got the all-important goal.

“Villa weren’t great today, I thought that Southampton might have got something but Southampton are only heading one way.”

Frank Lampard

Granted, Frank Lampard’s achievement may not have been part of the Premier League action, but it can’t go unnoticed.

9

The 46-year-old picked up his first win as Coventry City manager and did it against Millwall at The Den.

Coventry’s win also consigned Millwall to an unwanted 116-year first as it was the first time the latter had lost four-straight league games to the Sky Blues since they first faced off in 1908.

Given Lampard’s West Ham and Chelsea ties, it makes the historic defeat all the more brutal.

“Well done on his first win,” Cundy said.

“I think he’s unbeaten so far as Coventry manager and they go up to the dizzy heights of 14th and just 10 off those play-off places.

“He needed that and Millwall away, it’s a horrible place to go.”

9

9

Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa

One of the most lethal double acts in the Premier League were at it again.

Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa both got on the scoresheet in Brentford’s 4-2 win over Newcastle, with the former providing the assist for Kevin Shade’s 90th-minute strike.

With their goals, Mbeumo and Wissa took their Premier League tally to nine each.

“Brentford at home, of course they win and of course they score loads of goals,” Cundy said.

“I’m kind of torn between Mbeumo and Wissa, so I’ll give it as a collective.

“I like the pair of them – Mbeumo, I’m a big fan and if he carries on doing what he’s doing then the big dogs will be looking at him.

“He’s definitely on the radar.”

Losers

Rob Jones

Referee Rob Jones was the man who gave Rico Lewis his marching orders during Manchester City’s draw with Crystal Palace.

Lewis received a second yellow for a tackle on Palace’s Trevoh Chalobah, but replays showed it was the latter who appeared to make first contact.

Given it was a second yellow and not a straight red, the decision could not be reviewed by VAR.

Upon seeing Lewis’ red card during the match, Cundy said: “The Rico Lewis second yellow card, I’m not having it mate. Okay. I’m not having it.

9

“I’ll tell you what, if football really wants to move down the track of improving VAR – this has bugged me for a while – a second yellow card for a red, why it cannot be looked at by VAR?

“It is an absolute mystery.”

So it should come as no surprise Jones found his way into Cundy’s losers.

“I’m throwing a ref in there, mate,” Cundy said.

“I’m throwing Rob Jones in there.

“It’s just such a terrible decision.”

9

Eddie Howe

The criticism is coming thick and fast for Howe as Newcastle’s winless streak extended to a fourth game with the 4-2 loss to Brentford.

Newcastle’s defeat also left them five points off the top six, not an insurmountable gap but one Toon fans won’t be overly pleased with.

“I don’t care what you say, he is under pressure,” O’Hara said.

“They’re 12th in the table.”

Cundy replied: “Under pressure seems harsh. OK, he’s under pressure. He’s under the spotlight.

9

“People are looking at him and waiting to see what happens in the next couple of weeks.

“When you’re under the spotlight, you’re under pressure. It’s Eddie watch.”

Andre Onana

The Manchester United goalkeeper was a late inclusion, but given his calamitous error against Nottingham Forest, it didn’t come as much of a surprise.

Forest forward Morgan Gibbs-White took a shot from the edge of the box and it went straight in the direction of Onana.

However, Onana misread the direction of Gibbs-White’s shot as he fell over to his right.

It proved to be a costly action as Forest recorded a 3-2 win.

9

9

“He’s going in – what was he doing?” Cundy said.

“He dives the opposite way and falls into his own goal with the ball.

“He’s about three feet away from it in the end.

O’Hara said: “It’s one of the worst saves I’ve ever seen – it wasn’t even a save because he missed the ball.”

On the flipside of the result at Old Trafford, Chris Wood’s winner cemented him as Forest’s all-time Premier League goalscorer, with a tally of 25.

Aston Villa earned their first clean sheet in eight games with the 1-0 win over Southampton.

Mbeumo and Wissa’s brilliance inspired Brentford’s 4-2 win over Newcastle, with the four-goal haul placing the Bees as the league’s equal-top goalscorers.

There was also meant to be the small matter of the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park, but the fixture was postponed due to Storm Darragh.