Former Manchester United coach Erik ten Hag would have had to eat his words as Amad Diallo was the hero for the Red Devils in the Europa League on Thursday evening.
Diallo was the star of the show with both United goals in the second half in their 2-0 victory over PAOK at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag explained his decision to bench Diallo in favour of the misfiring Antony last month, following United’s 1-1 draw with Fenerbahce on October 24.
United fired Ten Hag five days later, and appointed Ruud van Nistelrooy as the interim manager.
Amad Diallo is all smiles after scoring a brace for Manchester United against PAOK 🤩
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Eating humble pie
Ten Hag explained Amad’s omission at the time when he said: "Amad, he is doing well, but I must also reward the performances of Antony in training. He is a threat almost every training session, so I felt in that moment the right thing to do was bring him on to decide the game.”
With new United coach Ruben Amorim set to take charge next week, there is cause for optimism for United.
Meanwhile, Diallo was proud of his performance following his brace against PAOK.
“It’s been a long time since we won in Europe. Today we showed we were the best team on the pitch. It was important to win today,” said Diallo.
“It’s important to score every time, this season I have been a bit unlucky and not scoring. I’m happy to get the win today, but the most important thing is that we got the win, and we won together.”
On how he was able to win the ball and score the second goal, Diallo said it was the work he did in training - and thanked the interim coach for his influence.
“It’s the work we do in training to press the opponent. I did that, I took the ball and I scored,” said Diallo.
“Since he’s [Van Nistelrooy] arrived at Manchester United he’s been important for everyone. He’s very close to the players and ready to help. He’s very important for this team.”