"How sh*t must you be?" enquired the Southampton fans, "we're winning away". But they didn't win.

Defeat for Manchester United might have signalled their most humiliating result in the Premier League era. A draw would have been ignominious enough. They got the win.

You wait 291 minutes for a United goal at Old Trafford and then three come within 12 minutes. Amad, United's player of the season, is also becoming their saviour of the season.

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He had been reduced to diving in the added time of the first half. The real Amad emerged at the end of the second half with equaliser, winner and a hat-trick goal.

For the first time, the United supporters rocked to "Oh Amad Diallo". He prefers to just be known solely as 'Amad' but will make an exception on this unforgettable night.

They turned up the volume on KC and the Sunshine Band with 12 minutes to go until kick off. The United fans already in their seats missed their cue to chant Ruben Amorim's name. Come added time, they sang it raucously after their ode to Amad.

This was almost Amorim's worst night in the United dugout. Instead, it will live long in the memory, a first 90th-minute winner at Old Trafford. "Fergie time," beamed a giddy fan.

United had dropped to 15th before kick off but are now 12th. This was not the confidence-building performance many who clicked through the turnstiles had hoped for and it ended a bigger win than it might have been at kick off.

It had the makings of another inquest. Southampton led until the 82nd minute through another set-piece goal. United have shipped more goals from dead-ball kicks now than Wolves, one of the few teams below them in the table.

Even for the worst United side in 50 years, this was shaping up to be a new low. Southampton had a -32 goal difference and six points at kick off. Their capitulation was a reminder why they will be back in the second tier next season.

Amorim eschewed the United supporters after the draws with Arsenal and Liverpool, a signal that he approved of the result. He joins the players on the pitch to acknowledge the supporters after a negative result and seemed likely to stride onto it at full-time until the 90th minute. He headed straight down the tunnel, clapping the Stretford End en route.

Southampton outplayed United for the first 30 minutes in the reverse fixture in September and that appeared to be lost on the United players reprieved that day. They were taken aback by Southampton's sense of adventure when this could have been billed as a relegation scrap between bottom six clubs. The previous three visitors to Old Trafford are proof that no side that enters the away dressing room should harbour an inferiority complex.

Unlike at St Mary's, Southampton got their goal. An own goal. Tyler Dibling, such a nuisance for United at four months ago, was the deft creator with a near-post flick-on. Southampton had five attempts on target to United's one in the first half.

It was so bad Antony was ordered to warm up at half-time. Amorim's arms were often outstretched in disbelief during the first 45 minutes and his fury could be gauged by his early emergence for the second half while the players were still indoors.

Kobbie Mainoo was sacrificed for Antony. Fourteen months on from his first Premier League start, you expect Mainoo to exert control against a team bound for the Championship. He didn't.

Bruno Fernandes was moved to a deeper role yet he lost control in the first half. A better captain than he is given credit for, Fernandes regressed and was overemotional, positionally indisciplined and reckless with his decision-making. Christian Eriksen, a patient player who retains the ball, belatedly crossed the white line and conjured up an ingenious assist for Amad's winner.

Amorim admitted before the game he was concerned. You could see why. All of his misgivings about United - the inability to build up attacks and the lack of goals - were glaringly and humiliatingly apparent here.

It took Joshua Zirkzee to bring some construction to United's play. The Dutchman dropped deep effectively and he serviced Amad for the equaliser, United's first goal at Old Trafford in over a month.

Rasmus Hojlund, still the starting striker, did not touch the ball until the 16th minute and four minutes later he had more of it down the wing. Alejandro Garnacho denied him an assist with a lazy slash of the ball. Hojlund kicked the post and berated his teammate, who had the temerity to break into a slight smile.

United fans vented at Hojlund towards the end of another harmless half from the £72million signing after he lost another duel. For a focal point, Hojlund is too often the loser in battles with defenders. United have played the top and bottom teams in successive league fixtures and Hojlund's performances have been identical.

After another feeble fight with Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Amorim instructed his assistant Carlos Fernandes to summon the game-changer Zirkzee. Amorim did likewise in the 3-0 reverse to Bournemouth when Zirkzee was outmuscled. The United head coach has inherited two strikers the club spent £108.5m on in successive summers and does not truly believe in either of them. Harry Maguire emerged for the final ten minutes but did not have to double as a battering ram.

United fans warmly welcomed back Zirkzee two-and-a-half weeks after thousands had heckled him. At the time of his arrival, United had gone four hours and 22 minutes without scoring. Zirkzee has a mere four goals yet outshone almost every teammate.

A Southampton analyst was vexed by the space Fernandes was afforded as early as the fourth minute. Come the fourth minute of the second half, his colleague had his hands on his head as United struggled to smuggle the ball away from a corner. At full-time, the analyst's face was buried in his hands in disbelief.

This was the first Old Trafford match of the Amorim era that Sir Jim Ratcliffe was in attendance for. Until the stroll against Leicester in November, Ratcliffe had not been present for a United league win since he had a seat reserved in the directors' box.

Word quickly spread that Ratcliffe was present. "£66, taking the p**s," the Stretford End informed him. Especially when they were watching that lot.

Apart from Amad.