Match report and talking points from the Red Devils’ lucky escape

Manchester United avoided a humiliating loss to strugglers Southampton in the Premier League on Thursday evening thanks to a late hat-trick from Amad Diallo.

The 20th-placed visitors maintained their deserved lead in the first half until Imad began scoring late goals from the 82nd minute onwards. However, the underwhelming display that preceded the striker’s dramatic intervention would have been a major concern for Ruben Amorim.

“It’s my job to be worried,” the United coach warned before the match. If the Portuguese coach thought about his team’s performance during the first 82 minutes, he would be working overtime.

How the game unfolded

Despite his team’s poor record – the lowest number of points after 20 matches Premier League HISTORY – Southampton coach Ivan Juric had a glimmer of hope in his eye ahead of the trip to Manchester. “We will have chances, so I am optimistic,” the next coach predicted. This confidence was not misplaced.

Southampton They entered Thursday’s game with just 12 league goals between them – a tally that six individual players could better this season – but they looked like they were scoring every time they ventured forward. Tyler Dibbling got past a hot-headed Lisandro Martinez shortly before the half-hour mark, and got into the box before running off. Onana got a meaty claw on the low shot and leapt back to his feet to stifle Matheus Fernandes’ attempted rebound.

unitedThe former rejected those in yellow but he could not refuse his teammate. A devilish corner kick from Mateus Fernandes bounced off Manuel Ugarte’s shoulder and slipped into Onana’s clutches to give Southampton a deserved lead in the 43rd minute.

While looking back on one of the club’s most embarrassing defeats in recent history, Amorim were desperate for goals: Enter…Anthony.

Even after the introduction of a winger awaiting his first league goal since April 2024, and two other changes, United remained in a strong defensive position. Slimana continued to have his way with the increasingly unlucky Lenny Euro without crowning his penetrating darts with a goal.

Regardless of their style of play, Southampton still boasted a single-digit points tally after 21 matches. Garnacho was able to keep out James Brey on the hour mark, drilling the ball across the box for Anthony to slip onto. However, with a gap in the goal open, Amorim’s super-diver somehow conspired to divert the ball wide of Aaron Ramsdale’s unguarded net.

The former Arsenal goalkeeper blocked Fernandes’ shot from a tight angle before Imad finally equalized for the hosts in the 82nd minute. Coincidentally making his way through a crowd of neon yellow shirts, United’s surprise star of the season volleyed the ball under Ramsdale.

Christian Eriksen arrived late from the bench and quickly joined Bruno Fernandes as the only players in red capable of producing a pass in any craft. The Dane’s veteran stretched in the second part of a delightful exchange over a depleted Southampton backline, then moved into the stride of Amad, who beat Kyle Walker-Peters to put United ahead 50 seconds from normal time.

Imad wrapped up the match 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 the player ratings from the Manchester United vs. Southampton match here.

It’s easy to forget how quickly Imad was able to turn around a United career that was in danger of stalling. The player, who arrived at United in January 2021 – during the reign of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – for a fee that could reach £37m, had never played the full 90 minutes in consecutive Premier League matches until Amorim took charge in November. United were very happy to have watched Thursday’s game.

There is no doubt that Imad has been unshackled by the Portuguese coach, who supervised his star Conclude a new long-term deal earlier this month, but he only featured in the match against Southampton in the final minutes. Due to the high pressure from the visitors in the opening hour, United’s wing-back spent more time defending than the winger.

However, as Saints’ flankers began to tire – particularly those of counterpart Kyle Walker-Peters – Amad eventually crept onto the pitch and entered his favorite phase of the game. Half of his 10 goals for United were scored in the final 10 minutes, including all three in midweek.

Amorim’s challenge to his players Heading into Thursday’s game, it was simple: prove you can handle the pressure of performing in a game everyone expects you to win. The late postponement earned them mixed marks at best.

The team was poor on the ball whenever anyone other than Bruno Fernandes had possession and completely inept in defence, the only impressive aspect of United’s display being how efficiently they undercut all the good work that had been built up with their spirited performances against Liverpool and Arsenal. .

The Portuguese coach made three changes within ten minutes of the second half, destroying the midfield pairing of Kobe Maino and Manuel Ugarte who had impressed at Anfield and the Emirates after two lukewarm performances.

Amorim warned that his players “have to perform well” before the match. Emad eventually did so, but the rest was found wanting.

Not so long ago, Manchester United fans would only turn to Harry Maguire if they wanted help moving a sofa or something from the top shelf. But in a central back three, the defender becomes exhausted, no longer lead-footed but steel-toed.

Matthijs de Ligt took over for Maguire in the back line against Southampton. He was a former prodigy who still played with the unbridled enthusiasm of a Labrador puppy, and that sense of reckless enthusiasm rubbed off on his fellow centre-backs.

Kamaleddine Slimani set up Lenny Euro until Amorim mercifully took him out in the final 10 minutes, while Lisandro Martinez had a difficult evening facing an even more difficult client.

When it was put to then-Southampton manager Russell Martin that the Red Devils were considering a bid for their star striker Tyler Deepling earlier this season, he couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ve been told some rumors about Manchester United, one of which was a £21m offer. “I’m not sure you’ll get the left foot for it.”

Debling justified the high evaluation given by his former coach by beating Martinez for an hour.

United’s Argentinian centre-back has clearly been told to stay tight with Debling whenever Southampton has the ball, and is theoretically free to pursue roaming defeats with two midfielders guarding him behind him. However, the man nicknamed “The Butcher” was constantly waving his wits in the air.

Not only did Debling dribble past Martinez in open play, but he headed the ball in a corner kick that put Southampton ahead in the first half.

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