Released by Ten Hag, Amad wins the Man United Europa League

MANCHESTER, England – Ruben Amorim still has one more game to prepare for against Sporting Lisbon before taking over as Manchester United's new head coach, but Amad Diallo can only hope his future boss watched his performance against PAOK FC.

The 22-year-old winger struggled for opportunities under former coach Erik ten Hag, who was sacked by the club last week. He was called into the team by interim keeper Ruud van Nistelrooy for Thursday's Europa League game against the Greek champions. He was United's best player and scored both goals in a 2-0 win.

Amad's backwards header at the start of the second half helped his team take the lead in what had been an even game up to that point. His second shot, a curling effort from the edge of the penalty area, secured United's first win in European competition in more than a year.

Amorim will be busy balancing his preparations for Sporting's game at Braga on Sunday with an initial assessment of the squad he will take charge of when he begins work at Old Trafford on Monday. In that sense, it was perfect timing for Amad – he did more than enough against POAK for his new coach to put a tick next to his name.

“He’s a great character,” Van Nistelrooy said of Amad. “A hard worker and he shows that in every training session. Every day after training he comes to me and wants to do extra finishing work and extra crosses. How can I improve my heading?”

“He is constantly focused on learning and improving, lives professionally and is very motivated to get the most out of his career. I was really happy for him.”

At the final whistle, United's official Instagram account posted a picture of Amad with the caption: “Let him cook.” The problem, however, is that he is hardly allowed in the kitchen. It became a mystery to some United fans why he was constantly overlooked by Ten Hag.

The Ivorian was responsible for one of the best moments of Ten Hag's tenure when he ran across half the pitch and scored the winner against Liverpool in stoppage time in the FA Cup last season. Despite his heroics that day, he struggled to break into the team on a regular basis.

Amad scored a rare Premier League start against Brighton in August, but was not used for the next game against Liverpool a week later. He was in the starting line-up again against Southampton and provided an assist for Marcus Rashford in the 3-0 win. Since then, his involvement has been largely limited to the role of a substitute.

From the start against POAK he took advantage of his chance. He was unlucky not to win a penalty when a quick and direct run into the box was only canceled out by a clumsy challenge from Baba Rahman. Shortly afterwards, his fierce pressing, which ended with a tough tackle on the opposite side of the pitch, was met with huge celebrations in the Stretford End.

His header in the 50th minute gave United the lead, but Amad's second goal was better. After taking the ball from Rahman, he took a few more touches and directed his shot into the far corner. He walked off the pitch in the 80th minute, game-winning, receiving a rousing hug from Van Nistelrooy and a standing ovation from the home fans.

Van Nistelrooy wasn't happy with United's first-half performance – POAK had more shots and more shots on target in the first 45 minutes – but Amad saved the Dutchman from an embarrassing blemish on his CV as interim champion.

“The first half wasn’t good, that’s clear,” said Van Nistelrooy. “I spent a lot of time thinking about positioning at halftime. We left too many positions in the first half and therefore didn’t get going.”

“In the first half Amad was our best player and in the second half he decided the game for us. He was excellent. For me, the second goal had everything that Amad Diallo is all about. He fought to take the ball away from the PAOK defender, pushed through to score the shot and had the quality to turn it around the goalkeeper.

As impressive as he was, Amad still has reason to be nervous about Amorim's arrival.

As an out-and-out winger, his position doesn't really exist in the Portuguese coach's preferred 3-4-3 system. Instead of forwards having to stay high and wide, Amorim usually chooses two narrow attackers behind a central striker. It's possible that Amad could take on one of the full-back roles, but that would require more defensive responsibility than he is used to.

Concerns about where they might fit under Amorim are not just limited to Amad. Established senior players such as Bruno Fernandes and Rashford will also be looking to figure out what role they could play once he takes charge.

Van Nistelrooy is in the same boat. He has managed two wins and a draw in his three games as interim manager, but ahead of his latest appearance against Leicester on Sunday he is still waiting to hear whether or not he will be retained as part of the new-look backroom team.

“I have to check my phone now, we’ll see later,” he joked during his post-game press conference.

When United next play Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League in three weeks, Amorim will be on the sidelines. Amad and Van Nistelrooy can only hope that they get prominent roles at the start of the new era.