- United looked to be heading for defeat until Amad took control in final 10 minutes
- Manuel Ugarte had scored an own goal before the wide man netted three times
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Ruben Amorim joked that Amad Diallo saved him from an awkward conversation with Sir Jim Ratcliffe after his 12-minute hat-trick spared Manchester United’s blushes against Southampton.
Minority owner Ratcliffe was in the stands alongside CEO Omar Berrada, technical director Jason Wilcox and advisor Sir Dave Brailsford and watched on as United huffed and puffed against the worst team in the league, staring defeat in the face with 10 minutes to go due to Manuel Ugarte’s own goal.
But after three moments of magic from Amad, Ratcliffe and Amorim were able to have a rare catch-up and the United boss was grateful it was smiles and not scowls on the menu.
‘Yes, I had five minutes with him to talk about different things,’ he said. ‘The game was not good but the result helped the conversation!
‘Today was more important [to get] the win. I know the fans want to see so much better football but we need to win games. We managed to win and we are going to prepare the next game.’
Only Wayne Rooney (21y 4d v Bolton in October 2006) has scored a Premier League hat-trick for Manchester United at a younger age than Amad did here against Southampton (22y 189d).
Amad Diallo scored a late hat-trick as Manchester United came back to beat Southampton
Ruben Amorim’s side claimed their first Premier League win since beating Manchester City on December 15
Red Devils co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe did not look best pleased for much of the match as he sat in the stands at Old Trafford
But his heroics here means the Ivorian is now the Red Devils’ youngest ever hat-trick scorer at Old Trafford in the league.
‘He has a lot to improve but this game is in the pass. Enjoy tonight, it’s a very moment and he needs to appreciate these moments but tomorrow is a new moment and we have to prepare.’
Southampton boss Ivan Juric accused his players of playing like ‘innocent kids’ and urged them to ‘be more Italian’ after they threw away a 1-0 lead to lose.
‘We were much better than Manchester United [for most of the game], last 15 minutes we were like innocent kids,’ he moaned.
‘To win this game you can’t play 75 minutes. For the last 15 minutes you have to be more malicious, more evil to win the game. There are a lot of situations where we are naive.’
