Supporters and club icons unite to honour legend Denis Law on an emotional day at Old Trafford

“It’s the end of a generation,” says Ying-Hoi Soo, a Manchester United supporter since the 1960s. He has come to lay flowers at the United Trinity statue after the death of its final member, Denis Law.

The bronze is once again surrounded by scarves, shirts and flowers in a growing semi-circle at the base. Law is in the middle, hand aloft, with Bobby Charlton and George Best either side. The passing of the final third of the “United Trinity” is a reminder of what has been lost already for fans. “What a team heaven has got now,” reads one message written on a shirt. They were an iconic trio, leading United to era-defining glories in the 1960s with Law’s death almost 61 years to the day since they all started together for the first time. This was the final poignant goodbye.

• Manager admits United players are nervous
• Amorim says Rashford’s omission is ‘his choice’

Ruben Amorim branded his team as the worst “maybe in the history of Manchester United” after a 3-1 defeat against Brighton on Sunday led to the team being booed off the pitch at Old Trafford.

The defeat leaves United in 13th with 26 points, 10 points above the relegation zone, on a day when fans and former players paid tribute to the late Denis Law. It was United’s sixth home league defeat of the season, the most from their opening 12 home matches of a league campaign since 1893-94, 131 years ago.

On a sombre afternoon graced by a piper’s rendition of Flower of Scotland and a poetic tribute to the great man, Manchester United went down dismally in their first game since Friday’s passing of Denis Law.

Ruben Amorim’s 15th match piloting United enters the record books as a seventh defeat. Afterwards his declaration was damning, branding his side as the poorest “maybe in the history of Manchester United”.

Manchester United footballer known as The King of Old Trafford and one of Scotland’s most outstanding players

The footballer Denis Law, who has died aged 84, was a Manchester United legend and one of the finest attackers of his, or any other, era. With United in the 1960s he won a European Cup, two First Division titles and an FA Cup, while for his country, Scotland, he racked up 55 caps, scoring 30 goals.

Law had the great player’s ability to do something sudden and unexpected. His ball control was immaculate, his reading of the game exemplary, his passing precise, and his bicycle kicks revealed him as an acrobat. Also possessed of a fiery disposition, he was prepared to give and take hard knocks as the price of his fearless demeanour.

The reunion at Manchester United with his former Sporting coach is prospering despite the odd setback

It is always a relief in a new job to see a familiar face and it was no different for Ruben Amorim when he reacquainted himself with the former Sporting midfielder Manuel Ugarte at Manchester United. Both are new to the club and success at Old Trafford could hinge on how well the two perform as they “suffer” together.

After United secured a hard-fought and morale-boosting draw at the leaders Liverpool and went on to beat Arsenal on penalties in the FA Cup, there was a sense of optimism that a key problem had a solution. Then the midfield pairing of Ugarte and Kobbie Mainoo was overrun by rock-bottom Southampton and Amorim was left to ponder how he can achieve his goals with the squad he inherited.

With just six points from 21 league games, Saints are in danger of breaking a record set by Derby County in 2008

By Ben McAleer for WhoScored

Ivan Juric’s appointment was supposed to make Southampton a more solid team. His predecessor, Russell Martin, implemented a possession-based style of football​ that worked wonders as the club made an immediate return to the Premier League last season.

However, his approach did not fare so well in the top flight. Martin was relieved of his duties last month following a 5-0 home defeat by Tottenham. Southampton conceded in the opening minute and things only got worse. They were bottom of the table with just five points from 16 games; it’s now six from 21.

• Striker was part of United’s much-fabled ‘Holy Trinity’
• Bryan Robson leads tributes to ‘one of football’s giants’

Great names from Manchester United and Scotland have paid tribute to Denis Law, a legendary figure for both club and country, following his death at the age of 84.

Law, who was diagnosed with dementia in August 2021, scored 237 goals in 404 appearances for United and was the last surviving member of Old Trafford’s “Holy Trinity”, following the passing of George Best in 2005 and Sir Bobby Charlton in 2023. As such, his own passing represents a hugely significant moment in the club’s history.

From humble beginnings in Aberdeen, Denis Law rose to become one of Manchester United’s ‘holy trinity’ and won the Ballon d’Or

• Denis Law: United and Scotland legend dies at 84

A goalscorer with a courageous flamboyance, Manchester United’s ace also pioneered the signature celebration

Whoever first described football as the working man’s ballet (it may have been Tony Waddington, the long-serving Stoke City manager), they were surely thinking of Denis Law, whose balance and agility inside an opposition penalty area would have brought a cheer from Nijinsky or Baryshnikov.

Even on the sort of gloomy midwinter day when an English football stadium could seem, in the pre-modern era, to be a dark and glowering place, Law shone through the murk, and not just for the bright red of his Manchester United jersey and the white of his shorts. A shock of straw-coloured hair made him stand out in every opposing team’s penalty area even when he wasn’t spontaneously arranging his limbs to execute a spectacular aerial volley.

• Task force report has completed initial feasibility work
• OTRTF claims huge value could be added to UK economy

Old Trafford’s rebuild as a new 100,000-seater stadium and the wider regeneration of the local area could deliver an extra £7.3bn to the UK economy and bring more than 90,000 employment opportunities, according to the latest task force report.

Manchester United are examining options over whether to redevelop the current stadium to increase capacity to 87,000 or build a new ground which could hold 100,000 fans. A survey released in November found a majority of United fans favour a new stadium rather than the redevelopment of Old Trafford.

• ‘Sometimes good, sometimes bad,’ Amorim predicts
• Rasmus Højlund’s struggles defended as ‘team problem’

Ruben Amorim believes Manchester United’s season will continue to be a rollercoaster and defended Rasmus Højlund’s failure to score for eight games.

United trailed 1-0 until the 82nd minute against Southampton on Thursday at Old Trafford, before Amad Diallo’s 12-minute hat-trick secured a first league win in a month and avoided a fourth consecutive home defeat in the competition. United moved up 12th but the head coach admits their campaign will continue to contain ups and downs.

Newcastle chase a perfect 10, Chelsea seek a reliable No 9 and Southampton just want to get beyond six

If Arsenal’s books for the January window look closed, a meeting with Aston Villa casts forward thoughts to summer business. During Wednesday’s north London derby it was not difficult to wonder how much greater the margin of victory might have been with either Ollie Watkins or Jhon Durán leading the Gunners frontline. If Martin Zubimendi is an expected summer arrival, adding to an already packed midfield, where does a forward come in? Gabriel Jesus’s knee injury delays his possible sale while increasing the need for reinforcements. Villa have been busy, with Donyell Malen coming in from Dortmund and Jaden Philogene sold to Ipswich. Monchi, Villa’s president of football operations, has never been shy of selling players to bring in further talent. Watkins, who is 29, was on the mark at Everton for his first goal of 2025. Duran, 21, unused at Goodison after suspension, may be Arsenal’s next-best option to the imperious, and probably far too expensive, Alexander Isak. John Brewin

• ‘I need to understand why we suffer in these games’
• Manager admits Manuel Ugarte was tired during match

A relieved Ruben Amorim insisted Manchester United did not panic before Amad Diallo’s 12-minute hat-trick saved them against Southampton, having trailed against the Premier League’s bottom side until the 82nd minute at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

United were heading for a fourth straight home loss due to Manuel Ugarte’s own goal just before the break. But Diallo equalised eight minutes from time before remarkably scoring twice more to secure victory. It was put to the head coach that his side had been frantic towards the end. “It is not panic,” said Amorim. “In the first half we were too late to every ball and we tried to press too high and suffer for that.”

United flirted with embarrassment against the Premier League’s bottom side before Amad Diallo stepped up late on to fire a glorious 12-minute hat-trick

2 min: Diallo embarks on the first positive run of the evening, down the inside-right channel. The crowd get excited … then Diallo slaps a wayward pass meant for Bruno Fernandes on the touchline out for a throw. Onwards and upwards.

United get the ball rolling. Saints are kicking towards the Stretford End in this first half.

Panicky, amateurish and dicing with defeat against Southampton, who are bottom and had failed to win away in the Premier League: Manchester United flirted with the crimson embarrassment of a reverse they would long be reminded of.

But, enter the game-winner, Amad Diallo, with a stunning 12-minute hat-trick. His third strike came in added time – into an open goal – his second on the stroke of the 90 – a fine finish of Christian Eriksen’s chip – and followed the winger’s mazy run and equalising stab just minutes before. All from a refusal to lose.

• Head coach praised attitude in FA Cup win at Arsenal
• ‘He was dead in the end – I want that from every player’

Ruben Amorim has stated that Harry Maguire’s physical effort in Manchester United’s FA Cup third-round win at Arsenal on Sunday left him “dead” and cited this as the level of commitment he wants from all of his players.

Maguire was a standout performer in the victory, via a penalty shootout, at the Emirates Stadium, which came on the back of the defender being ill in the days prior. Amorim pointed to the 31-year-old’s attitude as an example to the rest of United’s squad.

Mikel Arteta’s team have had a painful start to 2025 and are now facing challenges in three competitions

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For Arsenal, the pattern was all too familiar. They won the xG against Manchester United on Sunday, depending which model you prefer, by around 3.5 to 0.5, but they drew the game 1-1 and with a certain inevitability, lost on penalties. The previous Tuesday, in the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final, they’d won the xG 3.1-1.2 but lost 2-0 to Newcastle. The previous Saturday, in the league, they drew 1-1 at Brighton despite having won the xG 1.5-0.9. They have begun 2025 by failing to turn dominance into goals and, very quickly, their hopes of a trophy are evaporating.

This was a very good weekend for the FA Cup. Plymouth, bottom of the Championship, pulled off the big upset by eliminating Brentford, while League Two Bromley went ahead before succumbing to Newcastle, non-league Tamworth took Tottenham to extra-time and there were further shocks as Doncaster and Exeter eliminated Hull and Oxford. But the culmination of Sunday’s sulphuric clash at the Emirates: no sense there of Premier League sides soft-pedalling. For Arsenal, the consequences could be hugely significant.

This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Have a question for Jonathan? Email soccerwithjw@theguardian.com, and he’ll answer the best in a future edition

• Manchester United defender pleased for Zirkzee
• Maguire wants improvement on ‘embarrassing’ 13th place

Harry Maguire has suggested video assistant referees are essential to the modern game, pointing to the controversial penalty that Arsenal won against him and his Manchester United team on Sunday to drive the argument.

Maguire was stunned to be penalised by the referee, Andrew Madley, in the 69th minute of the FA Cup third-round tie with the score at 1-1 and United down to 10 men after Diogo Dalot’s red card. The central defender had stood his ground against the Arsenal striker Kai Havertz, putting out an arm at worst only to watch his opponent tumble to the ground.

Today’s fluff twanged a muscle pulling on a Spider-Man suit

Despite Khvicha Kvaratskhelia being a cult hero at Napoli, who are four points clear at the top of Serie A under Antonio Conte, the Georgian wants out. PSG remain favourites to sign the winger, while Napoli may instead target Alejandro Garnacho, although the 20-year-old did start Manchester United’s FA Cup win over Arsenal on Sunday. Suddenly a £42m move to Italy does not look so likely, despite Argentinians famously doing rather well in Naples.

After all that fuss over Dani Olmo’s registration, or the lack of it, Barcelona were able to get the midfielder back on the books before the club’s victorious clásico Spanish Super Cup final on Sunday, after which the Spaniard kissed the badge and gestured to the celebrating fans that he was staying. However, one person that could leave the Catalan club in January is Ronald Araújo, with the centre-back linked with Juventus.

Tamworth’s heroes deserve better, Pep Guardiola tries to fire up Jack Grealish and Liverpool’s teenagers impress

Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-3 tactics have little place in English football, it was said. Recent Manchester United performances of the resurrected Harry Maguire in tandem with Lisandro Martínez and Matthijs de Ligt suggest it can work if with sufficient energy in midfield to protect the trio. Manuel Ugarte and Kobbie Mainoo offer that, and the wing play of Alejandro Garnacho in setting up Bruno Fernandes’s goal, plus Amad Diallo’s raiding runs at the Emirates Stadium, suggest the framework of a team. Penalty hero Altay Bayindir revealed he is a capable goalkeeper, a possible cult hero. There are complications. The club’s finances, chickens of the Glazer ownership now coming home to roost, may trigger selling “pure profit” youth products like Garnacho and Mainoo to fund recruitment. There are significant miles to travel, but the previous weekend’s draw at Anfield, and this 10-man heist at Arsenal are signs of a motivated team playing for their manager, closely following instructions. About time, too. John Brewin

Match report: Arsenal 1-1 Manchester United (3-5 on pens)

Match report: Brentford 0-1 Plymouth

Match report: Bristol City 1-2 Wolves

Match report: Tamworth 0-3 Tottenham

Match report: Leeds 1-0 Harrogate

Match report: Manchester City 8-0 Salford City

Match report: Liverpool 4-0 Accrington