Panicky, amateurish and dicing with defeat against Southampton, who are bottom and had failed to win away in the Premier League: Manchester United flirted with the red-faced embarrassment of suffering a reverse of which they would long be reminded.

But, enter Amad Diallo whose hat-trick goal came in added time – into an open goal – his second on the stroke of full-time – a supreme finish of Christian Eriksen’s chipped ball –and followed the winger’s equaliser minutes before: all due to a refusal to lose. Ruben Amorim stated he would learn more tonight about his players than from Sunday’s FA Cup penalty shoot-out win at Arsenal or the previous 2-2 draw at Liverpool: he certainly did after a display so concerning it was surreal.