Man Utd co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe was left unimpressed by two players as the Red Devils beat Southampton 3-1 in the Premier League on Thursday night.
The visitors had many of best first-half chances before a Manuel Ugarte own-goal gave the Saints a 1-0 lead at half-time as Ruben Amorim’s side struggled to get going.
Antony missed a tap-in at the back post during the second half before Amad Diallo burst into life to score a 12-minute hat-trick to rescue all three points for Man Utd.
The result lifted Man Utd up to 12th in the Premier League table as the Red Devils hierarchy look to provide Amorim with some reinforcements before the end of the January transfer window.
Ratcliffe, who has been cutting costs since arriving at Old Trafford as co-owner last year, was unimpressed by two Man Utd players after Antony failed to score in front of an open goal, while Leny Yoro was beaten by Southampton’s Kamaldeen Sulemana.
BBC journalist Simon Stone spotted Man Utd co-owner and INEOS founder Ratcliffe in the Old Trafford stands with a ‘stern face’ after the two incidents.
sport/football/live/c2dxw55pznwt” target=”_blank”>Stone wrote: “Leny Yoro just got absolutely skinned by Kamaldeen Sulemana. Play switches to the other end and Antony fails to put the ball into an open goal.
“That pair cost £134m. No wonder Sir Jim Ratcliffe has a stern face.”
Ratcliffe wasn’t the only one disappointed by the performance of a number of Man Utd players with Manchester Evening News journalist Samuel Luckhurst claiming Rasmus Hojlund “utterly hopeless” against Southampton.
sport/football/manchester-united-player-ratings-vs-30800322″ target=”_blank”>Luckhurst wrote in his player ratings: “Never should have started and, apart from one good piece of play to set up Garnacho, he was utterly hopeless again. A boy among men. 3.”
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Diallo has probably been the Red Devils’ player of the season so far and the Ivorian was ecstatic to score his first hat-trick for Man Utd on Thursday.
He said: “Yeah, it’s important to score. But, for me, the most important thing right now is the win, together.
“I’m so happy to score my first hat-trick, especially at Old Trafford. I’m so happy, especially for the win, because I think this team deserve it, and we have to keep going like this.”
On their performance against the Saints, Diallo added: “I think, especially in the first half, we were not good enough. But I think we believed until the end, we push and push and the fans were already there to push us.
“We won the match but we have to keep going like this because the next match is against Brighton, it’s a tough match and we have to be more focused.”
When asked which of his three goals he preferred, the Man Utd winger replied: “The second one is my best goal! A player like Christian Eriksen or Bruno [Fernandes], they have the quality to put a ball [in] like this.
“You have to believe it, you have to go, then you give them [the ball] and you go and then you have the ball there, and then score the second goal. I was so happy. I feel proud. I was so happy to score the second goal.
“I was happy for myself, but I was so happy for the team because we deserved this win. We need this confidence to keep going and we have to continue like this.”
