MANCHESTER, England — Ruben Amorim has inherited a mess at Manchester United. But amid the rubble at Old Trafford, the manager found Amad Diallo, and at least for now, that’s enough to keep him and United going.
For much of the game against Southampton—enduring the worst start to a Premier League campaign—the visitors were the better team. They were a goal up at halftime, and it could have been more. But just as they got within sight of a first top-flight away win since February 2023, Amad produced a 12-minute hat trick to pull his team back from the brink and win 3-1.
At the final whistle, the moans and groans that had filled Old Trafford for more than 80 minutes had turned to chants supporting the Ivory Coast winger.
It’s no surprise because, at the moment, he’s the only one worth singing about. In a month, he scored a winner against Manchester City, an equaliser against Liverpool, and dragged his team back from an unimaginable defeat to the league’s bottom team. No wonder Amorim was so quick to give him a new five-year contract.
“He did a great job,” Amorim said. “It’s a good moment for a young kid to score a hat trick for a club like this.”
Questions about Amad dominated Amorim’s postmatch media commitments, but the 22-year-old’s late intervention told only half the story. Southampton arrived having not won a league game since November and without an away win all season. Yet they were by far the better team for the first hour and United were lucky to be only 1-0 down at halftime.
“We didn’t do a good game, but if you look at all the opportunities, I think we deserve the win,” Amorim said.
“In the first half, we were too late to every ball and tried to press too high and suffered for that.”
Goalkeeper André Onana made three good saves with the score at 0-0, including a terrific double stop from Tyler Dibling and Mateus Fernandes. He’s the only player who comes close to challenging Amad for United’s Player of the Year award. Even though it’s only January, Amad might already have it sewn up.
Only when Amorim brought on Joshua Zirkzee and Toby Collyer after 53 minutes to join half-time substitute Anthony did United begin to get a foothold in the game.
Antony inexplicably missed an open goal from two yards, but fortunately for him, Amad was preparing to save everyone’s blushes. He almost single-handedly prevented United from losing four straight top-flight home games for the first time since 1930.
Amad made the first goal himself by running at Kyle Walker-Peters. He produced an excellent finish to stretch and connect with Christian Eriksen’s pass to score his second. Then he completed his first senior hat trick by robbing Taylor Harwood-Bellis and tapping into an empty net.
It’s incredible to think that—now United’s most important player—he was overlooked for so long by former manager Erik ten Hag. His goals ensured Amorim’s postmatch chat with co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe went far smoother than it might have otherwise.
“I had five minutes with him to talk about different things,” Amorim said.
“The result helped the conversation. We continue doing our job. Today, it was more important that we win. The fans want to see much better football, but we must win games. We managed to win and will prepare for the next game.
“The important thing is to win. Amad helped us, and he is doing perfectly well this season. I already spoke about this. You have to be careful with the young kids. Congratulations to him. Enjoy tonight; he needs to appreciate these moments.”
Amorim can only wish he had more than one Amad. He needs him at No. 10 and as a wingback. With his energy and ability to press, United’s top goal scorer needs more players with his eye for goal.
The problem is, with little scope to make changes in the January window, Amorim will have to make do with what he has.
Once the euphoria of the dramatic victory subsides, he will reflect that if beating Southampton is such a struggle, then every other game for the rest of the reason will be a considerable challenge. He’s facing the prospect of limping through the rest of the campaign as best he can and hopes he’s given the tools to perform major surgery on the squad in the summer. Until then, he needs Amad.
“He has to rest and eat good food, and on Sunday [against Brighton & Hove Albion], we need him again,” Amorim said.
