21-year-old Ivory Coast national football team member and winger Amad Diallo has been a forgotten man for Manchester United since his arrival at the 20-time English top-flight football champions at the start of the 2020/2021 Season, but the player made his minutes count in the Red Devils’ FA Cup Quarterfinal clash against long-time foes Liverpool, completing Erik ten Hag’s men’s turnaround and helping the 12-time winners at the oldest cup competition in the world to win the game at the death of extra time at Old Trafford. The 4-3 victory following Amad Diallo’s late late winner gave United hopes of winning a silverware at the end of the current campaign.
United Played Multiple Catchups After Their Early 1-0 Lead
Amad Diallo was of course a substitute in the Manchester United bench for a large part of the game, and the home side raced to a perfect start within the opening minutes of the game. England international Marcus Rashford was able to spot Alejandro Garnacho inside the penalty box, and the youngster had a go at Caoimhin Kelleher when he received the ball from United’s no. 10. The Argentine’s shot was parried away by the goalkeeper, but it fell in between Scott McTominay and the unguarded goal, with the Scottish midfielder having no issues to slot home the game opener.
Ten Hag’s men did not manage to keep their 1-0 advantage till the second 45 minutes, as the visiting Liverpool levelled things up through Alexis Mac Allister. Jarell Amorin Quansah was allowed to travel into the penalty box of the home team, before the young defender found Darwin Núñez, who then set up the unmarked 2022 FIFA World Cup winner Mac Allister for an attempt. The Argentine’s strike took a deflection, and despite André Onana’s best effort to keep the ball out, Jürgen Klopp’s Reds made things all square again.
The visiting continued to grow their momentum and found their first lead of this FA Cup Quarterfinal encounter with a Mohamed Salah effort during the first-half stoppage time. An interception right at the edge of the dangerous of the 13-time English Premier League winners saw the ball reach Luis Díaz, followed by the Colombian’s setup for his strike partner Núñez. The Uruguayan forward’s shot was saved by Onana, but the Egyptian captain Salah was there to clean things up and gave the Kop a come-from-behind lead prior to the break.
🚨⚽️ 𝐆𝐎𝐀𝐋 | Manchester United 2-3 Liverpool (Elliot 105′) pic.twitter.com/InGuy7jEWk
— EuroFoot (@eurofootcom) March 17, 2024
Amad Diallo Secured the Devils’ Come-From-Behind Victory and Was Given His Marching Orders in the Aftermath
Still downed up a 2-1 deficit, Manchester United were forced to make changes in hopes of finding an equaliser, and the likes of Antony, Harry Maguire, Christian Eriksen, and Amad Diallo were introduced onto the pitch. With four minutes remaining in the normal playing time of 90 minutes, ten Hag’s Red Devils finally brought the game to all square again, thanks to one of the replacements Antony’s effort. The Brazilian was able to shield the ball against his defender near the penalty box, followed by the 24-year-old wonderful turnaround and weak-footed strike that ended in the back of the net via the bottom right corner.
Rashford had the golden opportunity to win the game for United at the last kick of the second-half injury time, but a failure to find the target meant the FA Cup Quarterfinal had to go to extra time. Towards the end of the first extra time period, the England striker’s wasted chance before the goal earlier in the game was punished by his younger compatriot at the opposing end Harvey Elliott off a deflected long-ranged shot outside the box, but Rashford did make up for his earlier mistake to equalise for the home team seven minutes later, this time he managed to find the bottom right corner he was looking for in his potential game-winning attempt.
This FA Cup Quarterfinal between two juggernauts in the English Premier League was heading to the extra time’s injury minutes with a corner set piece at the left flank to Liverpool. The subsequent delivery was headed away by McTominay and Elliot, the goal scorer of Liverpool’s third of the evening, was dispossessed by fellow replacement Amad Diallo. The ball was left for Garnacho, who then sprinted one third of the pitch prior to returning the ball to Amad Diallo, and the Ivory Coast player’s left-footed shot beat past the shot stopper at the bottom right corner again. The 21-year-old Amad Diallo, who was already on a yellow card, was given his marching orders for taking his shirt off during celebrations.
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Coventry City Next for United
Thanks to Amad Diallo’s strike that earned the home team the hard-fought triumph, ten Hag’s Manchester United will be heading to Wembley to face EFL Championship side Coventry City for the 2023/2024 FA Cup Semifinals. A victory there will offer them with their second consecutive appearance in the history of the competition, where they might have a repeat of last year’s final against another nemeses and defending champions Manchester City, unless Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea can pull off an upset in the other last 4 clash.
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Ten Hag on Beating Liverpool with Amad Diallo’s Late Late Effort
Ten Hag was on his better days as the United manager during the interview, the Dutchman had this to say following the huge victory over their archrivals thanks to Amad Diallo’s late late winner: “We have a team that is for the future. We will prepare our best to play in the final. The first 30 minutes was the best of our whole season, we were acting as a team but then we got gaps between the lines and you can’t allow this against one of the best teams in Europe. They outplayed us. Then we made changes, we took risks and the players were wonderful. The attitude was great, a strong belief to win this game.”
Ten Hag then pointed out several players for their exceptional performances, including Amad Diallo. The Dutchman noted: “Rashford is resilient, he keeps going, normally he finishes those moments but he kept going for another chance. That inspired the other players. We have a team that is for the future. Coming up are players who are developing very well like Diallo, Garnacho, Kobbie Mainoo. Could be (A turning point) but we miss so many opportunities, Arsenal in the fourth game the 87th minute we should have had a pen on Rasmus Højlund, then we scored with Garnacho, disallowed, and then we concede a goal that should be disallowed so such moments can help you.”
As a contrast to ten Hag, Klopp was not having it during the post-match conference and even stormed out of the press interview after the game that was won by Amad Diallo. “United had the clear best start, it was obvious, they scored the early goal. We had to organise ourselves a little bit better, we struggled with the man-marking, didn’t play enough, all these kinds of things. In the moment when we found for the first time a way to play then we get rhythm and then it looked really good. Then we were absolutely deserved 2-1 up. And second half was exceptional, absolutely exceptional what we played here,” remarked the German.
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