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Thursday 16 January 2025 22:00
Manchester United earned a hard-fought 3-1 win over Southampton in the Premier League, our first game at Old Trafford since the turn of the new year.
The first half saw the Reds come off worse from a relatively end-to-end affair, when Manuel Ugarte deflected a Saints corner into his own net, a couple of minutes before the break.
Southampton proved difficult opponents to break down, especially with a one-goal advantage behind them, but Amad came up trumps in our time of need. Our no.16 finally managed to breach Aaron Ramsdale’s goal in the 82nd minute.
Not content with a point, the Ivorian went back for more with stoppage time approaching, poking home a Christian Eriksen pass in front of the Stretford End, before adding a third with seconds left on the clock, single-handedly rescuing the win for the Reds.
United had our fair share of defending to do in the first 45 minutes.
FIRST HALF – FRUSTRATING OPENING
It was a relatively muted first 10 minutes in M16. Neither side had managed to turn their possession into anything concrete, but Southampton saw more of the ball in those opening moments than Ruben Amorim likely would have desired.
Despite entering this game eight points adrift from 19th-placed Leicester City, the Saints showed they weren’t to be disregarded as an attacking force, with efforts from Kamaldeen Sulemana and Mateus Fernandes requiring action from Andre Onana.
The Reds had plenty to offer ourselves going forward, however, with a trio of cutbacks in the following few minutes creating a nervy spell for the visitors — not helped by strong claims of handball by Kyle Walker-Peters inside his own penalty area, waved away by referee John Brooks.
Pick of the bunch came when Rasmus Hojlund charged down the left wing and towards the Southampton box, before finding Alejandro Garnacho in space in the centre with a short pass. The Argentina international made contact with the ball but, unfortunately, it was always curling away from goal.
Amorim spoke before kick-off about wanting to see his side control the game more than they had in recent weeks, but there was a hint of that dominance missing from the first half.
Not long after the Reds had created a handful of promising opportunities, Onana was required to make a quickfire double save to prevent United going behind, the second of which — a point-blank rebound that fell to Mateus Fernandes on the edge of the six-yard box — looked an almost certain goal before our keeper’s intervention.
The first half was fizzling out into a calm conclusion as the interval neared when United conceded an unfortunate opener, a Saints corner ricocheting off the shoulder of Ugarte and across the goalline before Onana had chance to adjust.
Things almost went from bad to worse moments after that goal when Dibling went close with a curled effort from outside the box, but our man between the sticks managed to restrict the deficit to one goal.
The Reds could have been further behind at the break without Andre Onana’s saves.
SECOND HALF – AMAD THE HERO
Amorim sensed the need for a change and opted to introduce three new faces to the field in Antony, Toby Collyer and Joshua Zirkzee, all before the hour mark.
Antony, brought on at the break, almost had an instant impact, getting a shot off at goal in the first few seconds before turning to rouse the Stretford End. He almost gave the fans something greater to cheer, just under 10 minutes later, when he found himself open at the back post, but couldn’t put the finishing touch on Garnacho’s driven cross, when a goal seemed certain.
The Saints came out strongly from the interval, but United did managed to wrestle back some control around the hour mark, playing the game exclusively in the visitors’ half of the pitch for considerable spells, despite not truly troubling Ramsdale.
Amad emerged as the hat-trick hero!
Amorim’s men were determined to fight back against this stubborn Saints defence and who better to break the lock than creator-in-chief, Amad?
Zipping down the right wing, he took his first shot not long after entering the box, blocked by Walker-Peters, but the Ivorian wasn’t deterred, recollecting possession and powering another effort towards goal. There was no stopping this one, the ball zipping past Ramsdale, before Amad set off back to his own half to restart the game, in search of a winner.
He’s already proven decisive in the most dramatic moments during this campaign, and the electric wide man undoubtedly added another to the collection here.
First, he poked home an expertly lofted Eriksen ball, with what looked to be the final big action of the encounter, stretching to hit it the beautiful pass on the volley.
But he simply never knows when to stop. Four minutes into added time, with all the energy of a player in the first moments of a game, Amad seized possession from Taylor Harwood-Bellis right in front of goal and simply knocked his third into an empty net.
Hat-trick, three points and another memorable Old Trafford night: secured.
MATCH DETAILS
United: Onana; Yoro (Maguire 83), De Ligt, Martinez; Amad, Ugarte (Collyer 54), Mainoo (Antony 46), Mazraoui (Eriksen 83); B. Fernandes (c), Garnacho; Hojlund (Zirkzee 53).
Subs not used: Bayindir, Malacia, Kukonki, Casemiro.
Goals: Amad 82, 90, 90+4.
Booked: Martinez.
Southampton: Ramsdale, Bree, Bednarek (c) (Wood 84), Harwood-Bellis; Sugawara, Ugochukwu (Onuachu 83), Aribo (Downes 73), Walker-Peters; M. Fernandes (Armstrong 73); Sulemana, Dibling (Smallbone 63).
Subs not used: McCarthy, Manning, Lallana, Archer.
Goals: Ugarte 43 (og).
Booked: Dibling, M. Fernandes, Downes.
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Thursday 16 January 2025 22:00
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