Man Utd survive Southampton humiliation as Amad spares Ruben Amorim's blushes
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Ruben Amorim can claim one unqualified success in his short time as Manchester United manager. He has ensured the club’s fans have a hero, a talisman, an inspiration they can salute for many years to come. A week after Amad Diallo signed a deal that will keep him at Old Trafford until the next decade, the 22-year-old Ivorian stood in front of the Stretford End with a megawatt smile that dispensed the gloom that had enveloped the stadium for so much of this remarkable contest.
Contrast that smile with the thunderous look on Amad’s face three months ago in Istanbul when Erik ten Hag waited until the dying embers of a game against Fenerbahce to send one of his in-form players onto the pitch in search of a winner. Had Ten Hag been kept on, would Amad have gone? No-one knows for sure but what is certain is that Amad’s brilliance has instantly blossomed under Amorim.
And this match-winning, 12-minute hat-trick was not just about his brilliance - it was about his persistence, it was about his engine, his energy, his effervescence. Amad is, quite simply, a player who makes things happen. And boy, did Amorim and Manchester United need someone to make things happen.
Southampton arrived in Manchester with the worst-ever Premier league record after 20 games, and were dressed in yellow. And for the best part of 80 minutes, they were made to look like Brazil. Actually, that is unfair because as poor as United were, the Saints were stylishly good and should probably have had a first-half reward that was greater than the Manuel Ugarte own goal which gave them a lead at the interval.
