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Amad Diallo scored a sensational 12-minute hat-trick as Manchester United beat Premier League side Southampton 3-1 on Thursday, narrowly avoiding a humiliating fourth consecutive home defeat.
The Ivory Coast international – United’s standout player this season – equalized in the 82nd minute before giving the hosts the lead in the final seconds of the 90 minutes.
He still wasn’t finished and took advantage of a mistake from Taylor Harwood-Bellis to secure a third goal in stoppage time, giving the score a distorted look.
It was cruel luck for the Saints side, who struggled to avoid finishing the season as the worst team in Premier League history despite having just one win to their name.
Ivan Juric’s men deservedly took the lead late in the first half through an own goal from Manuel Ugarte and had numerous chances to extend their lead.
But Diallo has again been the savior of United’s misses in recent weeks after his winner at Manchester City and his late equalizer against Liverpool.
“Today we showed at the end that we are the best team,” the winger told TNT Sports. “I’m so happy about the win today because this team deserves it.”
“I’m willing to play any position the coach wants me to play.”
United coach Ruben Amorim praised his striker and emphasized his attacking threat.
“He pushes the other team into the final third – that’s really important,” he said. “We didn’t have a good game, but at this moment the victory is the most important thing.”
– Amorim Reconstruction –
United secured a morale-boosting FA Cup victory at Arsenal on Sunday, which was followed by a fighting 2-2 draw at league leaders Liverpool.
But they had to prove their long-suffering home fans right after three consecutive Premier League defeats underlined the huge rebuilding task facing new coach Amorim.
The visitors quickly settled down and the lively Kamaldeen Sulemana forced Andre Onana into a clever save after bursting into the box.
Despite their slow start, the home side should have taken the lead in the 20th minute after a flowing move down the left flank, but Alejandro Garnacho shot horribly wide after being caught by Rasmus Hojlund.
Southampton played with confidence and elan.
Onana made a brilliant double save from Tyler Dibling with his outstretched hand before quickly getting up and parrying from point-blank range from Mateus Fernandes.
And the visitors got the goal they fully deserved in the 43rd minute after the United defense took a corner kick.
Matheus Fernandes’ shot was blocked by Dibling at the near post and the ball landed on Ugarte’s back.
Amorim caused a stir at half-time when he substituted the underperforming Antony for Kobbie Mainoo.
Ghanaian winger Sulemana, who was giving Leny Yoro a hot performance on the right side of the United defense, burst through again but was blocked by Matthijs de Ligt, who was running riot.
Amorim then pushed out Ugarte and Hojlund and was replaced by Toby Collyer and Joshua Zirkzee, sending a painful message to his underperforming stars.
Sulemana raced past Yoro again and sent a shot agonizingly wide of the post.
Antony was responsible for a stunning miss just before the hour mark, failing to win a cross from Garnacho.
Despite the ongoing threat from Southampton, United gained momentum and finally made a breakthrough in the 82nd minute.
Kyle Walker-Peters blocked Diallo’s first attempt but the ball came straight back to the Ivorian, who made no mistake the second time and fired past Aaron Ramsdale.
But he wasn’t finished yet.
Eight minutes later he managed to fend off a sweet back pass from substitute Christian Eriksen before completing his hat-trick late into stoppage time.
The win catapults United to 12th in the table and leaves Southampton 10 points adrift of safety and looking doomed.
“We were like innocent children in some moments and lost the game that we controlled for 75 minutes,” Juric, still hoping for his first win since arriving at Southampton last month, told the BBC.
In Thursday’s other Premier League game, Brighton beat relegation-threatened Ipswich 2-0, with second-half goals from Kaoru Mitoma and Georginio Rutter.
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