Ruben Amorim lightheartedly remarked that Amad Diallo’s spectacular 12-minute hat-trick against Southampton saved him from an awkward conversation with minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Ratcliffe was in attendance, along with CEO Omar Berrada, technical director Jason Wilcox, and advisor Sir Dave Brailsford, as United struggled against the league’s bottom team, facing potential defeat due to an own goal by Manuel Ugarte.
Thanks to Amad’s magic, who scored three goals in quick succession, Amorim had the chance to catch up with Ratcliffe, and he was relieved that their discussion was filled with smiles rather than scowls. He commented, “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.”
With his hat-trick, Amad made history as the youngest player to score a Premier League hat-trick for Manchester United at Old Trafford, just behind Wayne Rooney. Amorim acknowledged Amad’s achievement but emphasized the need for improvement, saying, “He has a lot to improve, but this game is in the past. Enjoy tonight, it’s a very important moment, and he needs to appreciate these moments, but tomorrow is a new moment, and we have to prepare.”
On the other side, Southampton manager Ivan Juric expressed frustration with his team’s performance after they squandered a 1-0 lead, criticizing them for playing like “innocent kids.” He lamented that despite being better for most of the match, they lacked the cunning needed to secure a win, saying, “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.”
