Amad Diallo was Manchester United’s matchwinner against PAOK but a goalscoring return to the starting XI would have come as little surprise to interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Because, speaking after the Red Devils needed the winger to light up what had been a pretty uneventful evening until he opened the scoring with 50 minutes on the clock, Van Nistelrooy could not have been more complementary.
Especially with regards to how Amad Diallo has conducted himself off the pitch during a difficult couple of weeks.
Amad would certainly have felt as if he had a point to prove, making his first start since the 3-3 draw with FC Porto in early October.
And, if indeed that was the case, the Ivory Coast international channelled all that frustration in the best possible way. Amad Diallo comfortably the standout in a long-awaited United European triumph.
After a lively first-half in which Amad constantly got himself into threatening positions without quite getting his end-product right, the 22-year-old guided a fine Bruno Fernandes pass back across the goal and into the far corner.
Amad’s first header since he opened his Manchester United account against AC Milan back in 2021.
Ruud van Nistelrooy lauds Amad Diallo after Manchester United beat PAOK
“[Amad’s first] is a good goal. When we are in those spaces, where Bruno is, we like to put the ball between the keeper and the backline,” Van Nistelrooy tells TNT Sport, the arch poacher delighted to see Casemiro and Rasmus Hojlund drive into the six-yard box craning their necks before Amad arrived at the back stick.
“You see the three players and the movement, it’s something we work on a lot. Its always a dangerous area to cross from.
“This, we needed. It was a good goal. Bruno assist, and I like the movement of the three reacting to Bruno’s cross.”
Amad’s second of the night – securing Man United’s first European win in over a year – was the sort of finish his adoring Wearside public got used to seeing during that superb loan spell at Sunderland.
Van Nistelrooy shares frustrations amid Amad praise
“[For Amad’s brace] he made his own goal coming inside on the left getting it into the far post,” adds Van Nistelrooy, the £19 million signing from Atalanta outmuscling a PAOK defender before rattling home from the edge of the box.
“It was excellent. But this is what made the goal; he won his own duel and took the shot.
“He has been incredible actually [in training]. He was never affected by not playing. Always training well, staying on the pitch doing extra bits, [saying]; ‘Ruud lets do more!’
“That [makes Amad] an example.”
In what was still a relatively flat display – Man United showing plenty of the hallmarks of their worst days under Erik ten Hag – Van Nistelrooy was happy enough to see his team step up a few gears after a first-half which could be prescribed as a cure for the most serious case of insomnia.
“Lets start with a pretty poor first-half, and I am [being] nice!,” Van Nistelrooy sighs, taking the positives and the negatives out of his third and penultimate game in interim charge.
“We were too much out of position and we didn’t get the game going. Second-half that was a lot better
“Amad made the difference for us, obviously because of his goals, but he was sharp in the first-half. He was one of the few on his level so well done to him.”
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