We just wanted to make Thursday night interesting and entertaining. With everyone expecting a straightforward United win, we thought it would be a good idea to go against the grain a little 🤣.
That is of course complete shite and the fact that we won at all is a good thing because...
Coming into this one on the back of two brilliant and combative performances at Liverpool and Arsenal in which United picked up two unlikely positive results, Southampton at home was seen as the true test.
Ruben Amorim said that this is a game where he will learn more about his players than the previous two and boy did he learn.
Learn that he can't actually trust them.
After the superb draw at LFC in our last league game and the incredible win in the FA Cup over Arsenal, many believed that that would bring some momentum and consistency coming into the first home match of 2025.
However, the Saints had other plans as they looked to be the only side who showed up, for 80 minutes to United's relief.
Ivan Juric's side had not won a game away from home all season and have just the solitary victory after 20 games. They are also the worst side in Premier League history until this point so there was no expectation on them, similar to United in their last two matches.
That lack of expectation showed as the away side began the match much the better. Winger Sulemana tore Yoro - who made his first start since the 2-0 loss at Wolves on Boxing Day - to shreds. Sulemana's low effort forced a top save from a returning Onana in goal.
A warning sign in the first 15 minutes.
This warning was not heeded by United as the Saints continued on their merry-way as they created further opportunities. Onana was called upon again to make a magnificent double save akin to what he did at Crystal Palace earlier in the season.
Many (including myself) thought that this would be a walk in the park for the Cameroonian but it was proving to be anything but. He was quickly becoming MUFC's man of the match.
Amorim's side looked nowhere near on it.
I guess that shouldn't come as a surprise because that is pretty much who we've been for a long time. How we played at Anfield and The Emirates was more out of character.
Nevertheless, United did create a good opening of their own as struggling striker Hojlund made a great run down the left flank but unfortunately, his cutback was put wide by Garnacho who should've scored.
Carry on like that and he may as well leave, amirite?
That was all United could muster in the first 45 but of course, the drama didn't end there as Southampton finally managed to get their deserved breakthrough just before the break.
What has been our Achilles heel for a long time came back to haunt us.
A corner late in the half ended up being put in his own net by Ugarte who knew nothing about it. Poor marking from Martinez at the front post allowed Tyler Dibling to get a flick on resulting in the Uruguayan's il-fortune.
But again, another corner for the opposition, another goal. This came after an impressive defensive performance at Arsenal where they didn't have a sniff from their corners.
How can we go from defending them so well at the team who are the best at them to a team in Southampton who hadn't scored from a corner all season?
Despite the disappointment of going into halftime behind, we should've been grateful that it was only 1-0.
It was clear that Amorim needed to change things up and change it he did. Mainoo was one of the many players having a terrible game and was rightfully hooked (in my opinon) at halftime. He was replaced by Antony which was perhaps more surprising than Southampton winning!
But that substitution failed to make a difference as the Saints took off in the second half where they left off in the first as Onana was forced to make another good save early on. De Ligt was also called into action with an important block.
This game really should've been won by Juric's men even after Antony missed an open goal. Yes, he missed an open goal. He failed to make good contact on a cross by Garnacho and ended up playing a pass back to Aaron Ramsdale in goal.
I felt like that may have been a sign that this may not be our day, something Amorim himself admitted when speaking post-match.
But on the other hand, Southampton missing all those chances made me think otherwise. You sometimes get these games where the opposition completely outplay you but are wasteful and you manage to get back in the game.
That is exactly what happened as like I said, for 80 minutes, the visitors were almost perfect other than that finishing.
A game of football though, is 90 minutes long.
And it was in those final 10 minutes that the game was decided.
In true United style that was reminiscent of yesteryear, a late comback was on the cards.
At this point, the United boss had played his hand as he made all five changes: Zirkzee for Hojlund, Collyer for Ugarte (which was surprising), Yoro for Maguire, Eriksen for Mazraoui and the halftime sub of Antony for Mainoo.
This signaled Amorim was going for it.
But it was a player that was already on the field that made the difference. While he too was having a forgetful game, with the ability and never say die attitude he has, Amad took the game by the scruff of the neck and singlehandedly got United the 3 points.
In what was one of the first instances in the match where he drove at someone, it created an opportunity. Amad's initial shot was blocked but came back perfectly in his path. He didn't make any mistakes with the rebound and brought the game back to level terms.
United in with a chance.
1-1 quickly became 2-1 as substitute Eriksen showed his guile and class with a beautiful dink ball back to Amad who hit it on the volley to put United in the lead.
Relief at Old Trafford 🙌.
The Ivorian's hunger didn't dissipate there as he displayed that endeavor that has been evident this season in that he will run for absolutely everything.
Amad has created or scored from similar situations where he pressurizes the opponent causing them to cock up and leave the door open. The same happened this time round as well as he ran down a Southampton defender, made him make the error and put the ball into the net to complete his hat-trick.
A 12 minute hat-trick that could be of vital importance moving forward. This was the 22-year-old's first hat-trick for United and first hat-trick for a United player since Cristiano Ronaldo in 21/22. And how everyone needed that!
Ruben Amorim will not have been happy with that performance. For his side to be outplayed and outworked, out-desired and out fought by the worst team in the league at home would've been really disappointing.
Until those final 10 minutes, his side showed next to nothing and 100% deserved to lose.
The manager will be asking the questions of his players again of how they can perform like they did at Liverpool and Arsenal, the two toughest places to go to in England, and follow that up with one of the worst performances of the season in what is the easiest game.
However, he will have been encouraged by the fight his team showed in that they kept going, something that has been a major improvement in recent weeks.
That is something at least.
The win in the end was the most important thing but how we got there...
Ratings
Onana - 8 MOTM
Yoro - 5
De Ligt - 6.5
Martinez - 6
Amad - 9
Mainoo - 5
Ugarte - 6.5
Mazraoui - 6
Garnacho - 5
Bruno - 5
Hojlund - 4
Antony - 5
Collyer - 6
Zirkzee - 6.5
Eriksen - 6.5
Maguire - 6
Ruben Amorim - 7
Final Thoughts
Let's just take the win and move. I don't know what more to say other than thank you Onana, thank you Amad and we simply cannot trust this team.
Goodnight 👋.
Background Image: Amad celebrates his hat-trick heroics as Man Utd beat Southampton 3-1 | Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)