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Centre-back Matthijs de Ligt hailed teammate Amad after he scored a hat-trick to help Manchester United come from behind to beat Southampton 3-1 at Old Trafford on Thursday night.
Trailing 1-0 with with nine minutes to go following Manuel Ugarte’s first half own-goal, Amad brought United level when he forced home a leveller at the second time of asking.
He then flipped the game on its head in the final minute of regulation time when he played a delightful one-two with substitute Christian Eriksen and fired a brilliant strike past Aaron Ramsdale to spark jubilant celebrations.
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Amad then capitalised on a Saints defensive blunder with 94 minutes on the clock to seal an unlikely 3-1 win for the Reds and score his first-ever hat-trick in senior football, capping off a dramatic conclusion.
The Ivorian has excelled since Ruben Amorim was appointed United head coach at the start of November, scoring six goals and registering five assists. And in the opinion of De Ligt, the former Sunderland loanee’s confidence is something that United are relying on.
“He is really important at the moment,” De Ligt told MUTV. “He has signed a new contract and he is here for a long time.
“He has a lot of confidence right now and this is something that we need, especially in the period that we are [in], because it is difficult to have a lot of confidence if, as a team, you are not winning games or are going through a rough period.
“I am really happy that a player with his quality has a lot of confidence so that he could help us today.”
United were second best for long spells against the bottom-of-the-table Saints, so much so they could have had no complaints had Amad not got them out of jail with his individual brilliance. De Ligt conceded that United were not the best side on the night.
The defender added: “Football is probably the most beautiful sport for us. It is a crazy game and, as we said, it isn’t always the team that plays the best [that wins].
“I think today we also had some moments that we were not playing good. I think Southampton, especially in the first half, had a good game against us; they were pressing high and winning all their duels and made it really difficult for us.
“Luckily, in the end, they became a little bit more tired, especially with the way we play, and we benefitted from that.”