Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has urged Amad Diallo to keep on improving despite his match-winning hat-trick against Southampton in the Premier League on Thursday.
The Red Devils recorded a 3-1 victory over the relegation strugglers at Old Trafford after trailing for the better part of the game before Amad turned it around with a 12 minute hat-trick.
Southampton took the lead before the end of the first half through Manuel Ugarte’s own goal as Manchester United struggled to make things happen in the encounter.
In the 82nd minute, Amad restored parity for the hosts with a clever finish, before making it 2-1 from a Christian Eriksen’s chipped pass.
The Ivorian winger made it 3-1 in the 94th minute taking advantage of Taylor Harwood-Bellis’ mistake to fire past Aaron Ramsdale to hand the hosts the maximum points.
The Red Devils delivered impressive performances in their last two matches against Liverpool, and Arsenal, but they struggled to impress against Southampton.
Amorim admitted it was not a great performance from his team, while urging Amad to keep working hard to improve.
He said: “He did a great job. But he has a lot to improve. 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.
“I didn’t say anything to him. I will tell him to rest, eat good food and be ready for Sunday [against Brighton] when we need him again.
“He is having a very good season. Congratulations to him. I hope he enjoys the moment because he needs to appreciate these moments.
“But we have to be careful with young kids. This game is in the past.”
“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.
“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.”
Amorim also revealed that he and his coaching crew will improve the training and the recovery of the players because they are tired.
He added: “I have big expectations for all, trying to be really demanding and I also understand when they try it and cannot do it.
“The pressure of playing at home is harder than playing away. The demands of controlling all the games against this opponent is harder.
“I need to improve the training and recovery of the players. We are tired, not just the body but the mind. It is a different game, we have to press more. If we don’t manage the ball for so long, we suffer.”
Amad was delighted to score his first senior hat-trick a few weeks after signing a new contract.
He said: “[It is] maybe one of the best weeks in my life.
“We believed until the end and are happy to win this game. We drew with Arsenal and Liverpool so the confidence was there.”
The win propelled the Red Devils to the 12th position on the table as they battled to get off the bottom half of the log since the beginning of the season.
Manchester United will take on Brighton at Old Trafford on Sunday.
