Amad Diallo caught the eye of Manchester United fans after he made his long-awaited return in the Europa League encounter against Athletic Club on Thursday.
Ruben Amorim’s men have one foot in the door of the Europa League final after Manchester United blew Athletic Club out of the water with their performance.
Casemiro broke the deadlock in the 30th minute in Bilbao and fired United into the lead against Athletic Club with a superb header past Julen Agirrezabala.
Athletic Club were reduced to 10 men in the first-leg Europa League semi-final tie on Thursday after Dani Vivian was sent off only five minutes after Casemiro’s opener.
Bruno Fernandes converted a penalty two minutes after Dani Vivian was dismissed and the 30-year-old United captain then completed his brace ahead of half-time.
Ruben Amorim’s side produced a disciplined performance at the San Mames Stadium and United comfortably held onto their 3-0 lead over Athletic Club in the second half.
The Europa League is crucial to United’s 2024-25 season and offers Amorim major silverware and a route back to the Champions League for the 2025-26 campaign.
Amorim received another major boost in United’s superb display against 10-man Athletic Club after Amad Diallo climbed off the bench for his return appearance.
Photo by Juanma – UEFA/UEFA via Getty ImagesWhat Man Utd fans said about Amad Diallo’s cameo performance vs Athletic Club in the 3-0 Europa League semi-final win
Amad Diallo has been a standout performer for Manchester United in the 2024-25 campaign and the 22-year-old Ivorian attacker has impressed at Old Trafford.
The Ivory Coast international has established himself as a key United first-team player and United manager Ruben Amorim is a big fan of the talented Amad.
United were dealt a major blow back in February after Amad picked up an injury back in February and he was initially expected to miss the rest of the season.
But Amad has managed to overcome the damage to his ankle ligaments and Amorim subbed him on in the 84th minute against Athletic Club on Thursday evening.
The United winger replaced Patrick Dorgu and Amad was able to pick up important first-team minutes in the 3-0 first-leg Europa League semi-final win in Bilbao.
United fans on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, waxed lyrical about Amad’s brief cameo display against Athletic Club at the San Mames Stadium.
One Red Devils supporter wrote: “Great to have Amad back, too. The difference-maker we might need in the final.”
“With Amad, we have to finish off Spurs,” another claimed.
A third United fan said: “Amad doesn’t even look like he’s been injured. Top footballer.”
“Amad, those few [minutes] were special,” somebody else added.
While a fifth tweeted: “Very important and convincing win tonight. Amad [being] back is very promising.”
Another posted: “I missed Amad, bro, forgot how exciting it is to watch your winger taking on defenders.”
“Amad came back like he never left. Looked sharp. Same old devil,” a seventh X user suggested.
Somebody else commented: “That Amad cameo, BTW. Special, special player. Don’t even play him in the league, just keep him fit.”
Ruben Amorim makes his feelings clear on Man Utd’s Europa League semi-final performance vs Athletic Club in Bilbao
Speaking after United’s result against Athletic Club in Spain, Amorim insisted that the Red Devils failed to score a fourth and extend their lead even further on the night.
“The result is really good, but we have to understand the result at the same time,” he told TNT Sports, as per BBC Sport.
“We struggled a lot at the beginning and the sending off changed the game.
“Any game can change with one situation. We had an opportunity to score one more. This is not done and they can do the same at Old Trafford.
“They’re really strong and intense. We need to be prepared. Manuel Ugarte with a lot of experience was a little nervous, Patrick [Dorgu] was nervous.
“Players like Casemiro, Harry Maguire, Bruno Fernandes help a lot.”
United will now host Athletic Club for the return leg at Old Trafford on 8th May, with the second-leg Europa League semi-final tie slated for 8pm UK time.