That turned out to be a regulation victory for United in the end, although they did try to bore us to sleep. However, Ruud van Nistelrooy sees his first European game in charge of United end with the club's first 3 points of this season's competition.
United were in desperate of that win as we'd picked up three draws from three before this match putting us in 22nd place. This victory puts us on 6 points and moves us to 15th in the table.
It's looking prettier now.
A very poor first half though by United. Very uneventful, so much so, that I can't actually remember anything. This was a bit surprising given the strong lineup Ruud went with as well as the quality of the opponent with all due respect.
The home team didn't really stamp their authority and while they never really threatened, PAOK would've felt pretty comfortable in that first period.
Ruud obviously had some strong words during the break because we saw a different and much improved United in the second 45.
They began with a lot more energy and enthusiasm. They put PAOK under pressure early on and finally seemed to wake up, almost as if they realized that they needed to win.
More chances were created and eventually, in the 50th minute, Amad managed to get the opener afte a looping header from the back post made it's way into the net after a ball from Bruno. I think Amad was looking for Hojlund but instead found the back of the net with his header across goal.
It was looking good from this point but not without a scare.
The Greeks managed to create a great chance of their own after a wonderful ball through United paired with poor defending saw it come to Tarik Tissoudali who ended up playing a pass back to Onana when he really should've scored.
That chance was easier than Amad's goal and should've made the game a bit more interesting.
Ruud started to make changes on the hour but all of Rashford, Eriksen and Martinez failed to make a difference as United actually started to lose some momentum.
The game was edging towards one of those unnecessary squeaky bums but thankfully, on 77 minutes, Amad made it 2.
Through some very hard work to win the ball back off of a PAOK defender, the forward then drove with the ball before cutting in on his favored left-foot to score a beautiful goal in the top corner.
That sealed the deal and capped off a great night for the Ivorian as large portions of the fan base wanted to see him get more game time.
However, he did pick up a knock and had to be substituted although it didn't appear to be anything serious.
That was how things ended and Ruud continued his good form as interim. Three games, two wins and one draw isn't a bad return for him.
He obviously wasn't happy with what he saw in the first half and changed things up in the second. Whatever he said made a difference and we saw what we saw in the second period.
These wins will do him no harm in terms of improving his personal managerial record and perhaps finding another job or being kept by Ruben Amorim when he comes in.
Ratings
Onana - 6
Dalot - 6
Lindelof - 6
Evans - 6
Mazraoui - 7
Casemiro - 6.5
Ugarte - 6
Amad - 7.5 MOTM
Bruno - 5
Garnacho - 5.5
Hojlund - 5
Rashford - 6
Eriksen - 6
Martinez - 6
Mount - 6
Zirkzee - 6
Ruud van Nistelrooy - 6.5
Final Thoughts
Very disappointing performance in the first half but better in the second. However, there was nothing in that game that made me somewhat excited about how we played nor thought that it would be something that would make Amorim get the fizz.
It really was like Erik ten Hag was still in charge as we played in the same way.
Getting the win was important because we needed it in this competition and to see some decent performance from some players was great as well but I just want Amorim to come in already.
That is when we truly start. All of this is 'let's just get it out the way' stuff.
One more game for Ruud as interim though. Let's hope he can keep his good record and put on another goal fest against Leicester on Sunday.
Background Image: Amad scores both goals in Man Utd's 2-0 win over PAOK | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)