Magnus Carlsen who once spent time with Cristiano Ronaldo on birthday, sends message to Manchester United about Ruben Amorim after Brighton loss

Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, who once spent time with Cristiano Ronaldo on his birthday, has asked Manchester United to sack Ruben Amorim. The Red Devils succumbed to a 3-1 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford on Sunday (January 19) in the Premier League.

It was their seventh defeat in 15 games under the Portuguese, who took over as new head coach in November last year. Since Amorim's arrival, the Premier League giants have won just six games across competitions, only three of which were in the Premier League.

Manchester United have struggled to score goals in recent times and have lacked a proven goalscorer since Cristiano Ronaldo's departure in December 2022. Marcus Rashford did register 30 goals from 56 games in the 2022-23 campaign but has struggled for form in the last 18 months.

On Sunday, the Red Devils fell behind in the fifth minute to a Yankuba Minteh strike. They rallied for an equalizer and got back into the game through Bruno Fernandes' penalty in the 23rd minute.

However, the Seagulls went ahead again in the 60th minute through Kaoru Mitoma. A howler from Andre Onana then saw Georginio Rutter put the game to bed in the 76th minute.

Following the defeat, Carlsen took to his official X account to write:

"Amorim out."

With 26 points, Manchester United are 13th on the Premier League table after 22 games, 12 points behind fourth-placed Manchester City. They have struggled to cope with Amorim's 3-4-3 system, but the Portuguese has insisted that he will not change his formation.

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How many goals has Cristiano Ronaldo scored for Manchester United?

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 145 goals and set up 64 more from 346 games across competitions for Manchester United to date. The Portuguese superstar joined the Premier League giants as a lanky teenager in 2003 before blossoming into a world-beater under Sir Alex Ferguson.

He spent six seasons under the fiery Scot, winning the Premier League thrice and the Champions League, among others. When CR7 left for Real Madrid in 2009, he had registered 118 goals and 62 assists from 292 games across competitions.

Cristiano Ronaldo returned for a second stint with Manchester United in the summer of 2021, having conquered Spain and Italy (Juventus). However, his stay at Old Trafford didn't live up to billing. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner fell out with Erik ten Hag and left the Red Devils in December 2022 to join Al-Nassr.