Saturday’s briefing: Dinner on Garnacho and Rodri on road to recovery

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim revealed Alejandro Garnacho was to take his team-mates out for dinner as an apology for how he reacted to being substituted against Ipswich.

Rodri took a notable step forward as the Ballon d’Or-winning Manchester City midfielder continued his recovery from his anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Aston Villa moved into the last eight of the FA Cup, while Fenerbahce announced boss Jose Mourinho was suing Galatasaray after they accused him of making “racist statements”.

United’s 3-2 home win over Ipswich on Wednesday saw Patrick Dorgu’s sending off late in the first half prompt a reshuffle in which Garnacho was taken off.

The 20-year-old Argentina winger’s response was to head straight down the tunnel, and Amorim, whose side host Fulham in the FA Cup on Sunday, told a press conference: “It was funny because in the next day he came to me, to my office.

“I did some investigations, and he went to the dressing room, he changed his clothes because he was wet. He watched the game in the different (place), not on the bench. In the end of the game he was there, then he went home, so there’s not an issue there.

“But I told them that in Manchester United everything is important, and the perception in a big club is really important, so he’s going to pay a dinner to all the team, and that’s it.”

Having been sidelined since sustaining the ACL injury in September, Rodri was seen taking part in an individual session at City’s training ground in a video released by the club on Friday evening.

The Spain international’s absence has been cited as a key factor in Pep Guardiola’s Premier League champions having fallen 20 points behind Liverpool in this season’s title race, and also exiting the Champions