Premier League
Manchester United Star Faces Fitness Doubt After Late Injury In PAOK Victory
Interim Manchester United manager, Ruud van Nistelrooy, admits the club must “wait and see” the severity of an ankle injury sustained by Amad Diallo in the 2-0 Europa League win over PAOK.
Amad delivered a standout performance, scoring two goals and earning the player-of-the-match title as United secured their first Europa League group stage victory after three previous attempts.
The Ivory Coast international’s improvised finish broke the deadlock at Old Trafford before a moment of individual brilliance saw him curl a terrific left-footed strike into the corner of the net ending United’s 13-month wait for victory in European competition.
But there was concern late on as Amad went down clutching his ankle and foot, with Van Nistelrooy withdrawing him from the action soon after.
Amad later told reporters, “I had a bit of pain on my ankle, it gave me a little bit of pain in the second half, but it’s not very bad,” while Van Nistelrooy admitted that “he’s being assessed” and a decision over his availability to face Leicester City on Sunday will come in due course.
The Dutchman commended Amad’s performance, indicating that the 22-year-old had benefited from his dedication both in training and in his personal life.
“He’s a great character, a hard worker, he shows it in every training session,’ Van Nistelrooy said.
“So that attitude and also extra work. Every day after training, he comes to me, and he wants to do extra finishing, extra crossing, extra one-vs-ones, extra how can I improve my shot, how can I improve my heading, etc.
“He’s constantly focused on learning, getting better, living a very professional way so he’s very motivated to get the maximum out of his career. After so many games, he didn’t start, but he had a great performance today, so I’m very pleased for him.
“I think the second goal had everything in it. That, for me, is Amad Diallo. He fought to take the ball off the PAOK defender, and then he pushed through to get the shot. In the end, he had the quality to bend it around the goalkeeper. So that sums him up.”
United remain unbeaten in the Europa League, having drawn their first three matches, and sit 15th in the revamped league format which consists of 36 teams.
The top eight teams will earn automatic qualification for the knockout rounds once all league phase matches are completed, while teams ranked ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged play-off to secure the remaining spots in the last 16.
