Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim has blamed tiredness for his players’ ineffective and uninspiring performances in their 3-1 win over Southampton.
A sensational late hat-trick from Amad Diallo dragged a below-par United to an unlikely victory over bottom-side Southampton in the Premier League.
For large spells of the match, United were second best and deservedly fell behind courtesy of a Manuel Ugarte own goal just before the break. Staring down the barrel of another home loss, Amad equalised for the hosts with eight minutes of the 90 left on the clock.
The Ivorian was at it again moments later, completing the turnaround in the 90th minute. He added a stoppage-time third to complete his hat-trick and send United to 12th place in the table.
Speaking to BBC after the final whistle, Amorim conceded that United were poor. He explained that the players may have been tired following last weekend’s FA Cup triumph over Arsenal, which ended up being settled via a penalty shootout.
“It was not a great game. After Liverpool and Arsenal, I felt the team was a little tired. We were always late, especially in the first half with some problems between the lines.”
“The speed of Kamaldeen Sulemana was really hard to catch and they created some chances also. But we improved in the second half and they lost some strength because they were doing man-to-man.
“Then we took control of the game and created chances. You have a feeling that it’s going to be hard on them, but we deserved the win.”
“I wasn’t surprised by Southampton. I knew the coach puts a lot of intensity. His style is known in Italy. They were strong in duels in the first half. But in the second, they lost some power and we took advantage of that. The most important thing in this moment is to win and we did that.”
When asked about Amad, Amorim replied, “He did a great job. But he has a lot to improve. He played in a different position today. He took advantage of his ability in the second half.”
“The last goal was similar to the one at Everton with the recovery. He did a good job but he has to prepare for the next game.”
“All the players in this team have the same responsibility. He doesn’t have to step up. That thing will appear if he does the work. If he train well, good things are going to happen.”
“He has the same responsibility as every player who play for Manchester United. He is in a great moment and he is having a very good season. We see this in the past with a lot of players in our squad, so he has to continue to work and play like that.”
United are back in action on Sunday when they take on Brighton and Hove Albion at The Theatre of Dreams.
Featured image by Carl Recine via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
