Premier League: Amad Diallo scores late 12-minute hat trick to rescue Manchester United in 3-1 win over Southampton

Amad Diallo's hat trick saves Manchester United from defeat against Southampton, showcasing his importance to the team.

Amad Diallo keeps coming up with big late goals for Manchester United. There were three of them Thursday (January 16, 2025) in a remarkable 12-minute flurry that rescued United from an embarrassing loss to the Premier League's worst team.

Diallo, a 22-year-old winger from the Ivory Coast, scored a hat trick from the 82nd minute to earn United a 3-1 victory over last-place Southampton — just when it looked like his team was heading for a fourth straight home loss for the first time since the 1930s.

“In football you have to believe. We believed until the end," said Diallo, who signed a new five-year contract with United last week as a reward for becoming one of its most important players.

That's because Diallo is proving a man for the big occasion. Two weeks ago, he scored an 80th-minute equalizer at Anfield to secure a 2-2 draw against Liverpool; a month ago, he scored a 90th-minute winner at Manchester City; and who could forget his winner in stoppage time of extra time as United ousted Liverpool in the FA Cup quarterfinals.

Now he is a mainstay of the team, even trusted by manager Ruben Amorim to play the demanding position of right wing back. By the end of the game against Southampton, Diallo was playing like a forward and he equalized in the 82nd minute, scoring at the second attempt after his initial shot was blocked.

Diallo put United ahead in the 90th minute when he ran onto Christian Eriksen's chip over the defense and volleyed home, and added a third goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time after dispossessing a Southampton defender in front of an empty goal.

“I am ready to play every position — I am ready to play as a wing-back, No. 10, where the manager likes to put me," said Diallo, the second-youngest scorer of a Premier League hat trick for United, after Wayne Rooney. “I am ready to fight for this club.”