Amad Diallo’s second-half double gave Manchester United the win they needed over Greek champions PAOK to kick-start their Europa League campaign and give incoming boss Ruben Amorim a shot at sealing a coveted top-eight finish.
Amad was by far United’s biggest goal threat. He broke the deadlock when he sent a looping header into the far corner five minutes after the interval.
The Ivorian sealed the win when he curled home from the edge of the area 13 minutes from time.
Tarik Tissoudali wasted PAOK’s best opportunity when he failed to convert from eight yards with only Andre Onana to beat.
Onana also made an acrobatic save to deny Mady Camara during a largely drab opening half.
The victory was United’s second in their past 12 European games and their first this season after starting the expanded Europa League competition with three successive draws.
Their next game in the competition, against Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt in three weeks’ time, will be Amorim’s first home game as head coach.
A largely unconvincing display from the home side was in marked contrast to that of Amorim’s current club, with Sporting producing a superb performance to beat Manchester City in the Champions League earlier in the week.
But if there is a positive from tonight for Amorim, at least he has plenty to work at in his new job and quite a lot of scope for improvement among his players.
Two-goal Amad catches the eye
The jury is still out on whether Amad is good enough to be effective on a consistent basis for United.
But without question, he is their biggest current goal threat. Not everything he tries comes off but he is brave enough to keep trying and tends not to overcomplicate situations, or lose his concentration, like Alejandro Garnacho.
His efforts seem to earn favour from skipper Bruno Fernandes, whose response to Amad overhitting a routine pass was to offer encouragement, which was in marked contrast to the criticism the Portuguese unloaded on Garnacho, when he failed to release the ball quickly enough later in the first-half.
As one of the smallest players on the pitch, Amad can be quite pleased with his opener.
Fernandes provided the deep cross and Amad looped it back into the far corner as PAOK goalkeeper Dominik Kotarski watched the ball drop in rather than attempt to keep it out.
Amad’s second was all his own work as he muscled Abdul Rahman Baba off the ball 40 yards from the PAOK goal, then ran to the edge of the area before curling a shot, that took a tiny deflection, into the corner.
After making such an impact, Amad must hope the knock he suffered and needed treatment on immediately before being replaced does not prove to be too serious.
