Match report & talking points from lucky Red Devils escape act

Thanks to a late hat-trick from Amad Diallo, Manchester United avoided a humiliating defeat to Premier League bottom side Southampton on Thursday night.

The visitors in 20th place retained their deserved lead in the first half until Amad scored his late shot on goal in the 82nd minute. However, the disappointing performance that preceded the striker’s dramatic intervention will have been a cause for concern for Ruben Amorim.

“It’s my job to worry,” United’s head coach warned before the game. When the Portuguese coach reflects on his team’s performance in the first 82 minutes, he will be calling for overtime.

How the game developed

Despite his side’s dismal record – the lowest points tally after 20 games in Premier League history – Southampton coach Ivan Juric had a glimmer of hope in his eyes before the trip to Manchester. “We will have chances,” predicted the new head coach, “that’s why I’m optimistic.” This confidence was not misplaced.

Southampton started Thursday’s competition with just 12 league goals in total – a tally six individual players can better this season – but looked like scoring every time they ventured forward. Tyler Dibling weaved past an overzealous Lisandro Martinez just before the half-hour mark, slipping into the penalty area before kicking off. Onana got a strong paw on the low shot and jumped back to his feet to smother Mateus Fernandes’ attempted rebound.

United’s number one had turned away the players in yellow but was unable to get away from his own team-mate. A vicious corner from Mateus Fernandes bounced off Manuel Ugarte’s shoulder and curled between Onana’s grasp to give Southampton a deserved lead in the 43rd minute.

As Amorim suffered one of the club’s most embarrassing defeats in modern history, he desperately needed goals: come on… Antony.

Even after introducing a winger looking for his first league goal since April 2024 and two other changes, United remained firmly on the defensive. Sulemana continued to hold his own against the increasingly unhappy Leny Yoro without crowning his penetrating darts with a goal.

As well as they played, this was a Southampton side who still had a single-digit points tally after 21 games. After an hour, Garnacho managed to elude James Bree and slot the ball across the penalty area for Antony to slide onto. But with the goal open, Amorim’s super substitute somehow conspired to direct the ball away from Aaron Ramsdale’s unguarded net.

Fernandes was denied by the former Arsenal goalkeeper from a tight angle before Amad finally equalized for the hosts in the 82nd minute. United’s surprise star of the season made his way through a crowd of neon yellow shirts and slotted the ball under Ramsdale.

Christian Eriksen came off the bench late and was soon, along with Bruno Fernandes, the only player in red able to play a pass with all his might. The experienced Dane weaved the second part of a one-two beautifully over Southampton’s battered defensive line and into the stride of Amad, who held off Kyle Walker-Peters and volleyed United into the lead with 50 seconds left in regulation time.

Amad rounded off the contest by pouncing on a loose touch from Taylor Harwood-Bellis in stoppage time. It may have been a memorable night for Amad, but it was a night that Amorim might want to forget.

Check out Man Utd vs Southampton player ratings here.

It’s easy to forget how quickly Amad turned around a United career that was in danger of stalling. A player who joined United in January 2021 – during Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign – for a fee of up to £37m, had never played the full 90 minutes in consecutive Premier League games until Amorim took over in November played. United were extremely happy he missed Thursday’s game.

Amad was undoubtedly unleashed by the Portuguese head coach, who secured his star player a new long-term contract earlier this month but only featured in the closing stages of the game against Southampton. United’s full-back was hemmed in by the visitors’ high press in the first hour of the game and spent more time in defense than on the wing.

But as Saints’ limbs began to tire – especially those of his counterpart Kyle Walker-Peters – Amad finally crept onto the pitch and entered his favorite part of the game. Half of his dozen goals for United came in the last ten minutes, all three of them during the week.

Amorim’s challenge to his players before Thursday’s game was simple: prove you can handle the pressure of performing in a game everyone expects you to win. A late reprieve earned them mixed grades at best.

Clumsy in possession whenever anyone other than Bruno Fernandes had the ball and completely inept in defense. The only impressive aspect of United’s performance was how efficiently they undid all the good work they had built up through their spirited performances against Liverpool and Arsenal.

The Portuguese coach made three changes within ten minutes of the restart, dismissing the midfield duo of Kobbie Mainoo and Manuel Ugarte who had impressed after two lackluster displays at Anfield and the Emirates.

Amorim warned that his players “must deliver” ahead of the game. Amad eventually managed it, but the rest was found wanting.

Not long ago, Manchester United fans would only have actively chased Harry Maguire if they needed help moving a sofa or something else off the top shelf. But in the middle of a three-man chain, the ponderous defender becomes a sovereign, no longer with feet of lead, but with feet of steel.

Matthijs de Ligt took over Maguire’s position as defensive anchor against Southampton. A former prodigy who still plays with the wild enthusiasm of a Labrador puppy, and that feeling of reckless enthusiasm permeated his fellow centre-backs too.

Leny Yoro was bypassed by Kamaldeen Sulemana until Amorim mercifully plucked him off in the final ten minutes, while Lisandro Martinez had a difficult evening against an even more difficult client.

When then-Southampton coach Russell Martin was told that the Red Devils were considering a bid for his star striker Tyler Dibling earlier this season, he couldn’t help but laugh. “I was told a few rumors about Man Utd, one of which involved a £21m offer,” he mused. “I’m not sure you get his left foot for that.”

Dibling justified his former coach’s high assessment by torturing Martinez for hours.

United’s Argentine centre-back had clearly been instructed to stay close to Dibling on every Southampton possession, theoretically free to follow the wandering Waif with the security of two other centre-backs behind him. But the man nicknamed “the Butcher” constantly exercised his wisdom.

Dibling not only evaded Martinez in open play, but also headed the ball to the corner, giving Southampton the lead in the first half.

READ THE LATEST PREMIER LEAGUE NEWS, RUMORS AND GOSSIP