Amad Diallo matches Cristiano Ronaldo feat with Man Utd hat-trick against Southampton | OneFootball

On Thursday night, Amad Diallo became the first Manchester United player to score a Premier League hat-trick since Cristiano Ronaldo almost three years ago.

United's modern-day talisman didn't net the first of his late flurry until the dramatic contest with Southampton had ticked into the 82nd minute. Amad's initial effort was blocked by a rapidly fading Kyle Walker-Peters, but the ball bounced kindly for the Ivorian who coolly slotted past Aaron Ramsdale at the second attempt.

Amad combined with Christian Eriksen to fire United in front for the first time on the night in the 90th minute, stretching to hook a volley beyond the former Arsenal goalkeeper. As Old Trafford bounced in unison, a collective sense of shock and awe seeping across spectators prepared to celebrate a victory after what had been a largely listless performance, the club's familiar saviour completed his treble in stoppage time.

Not only was it the first hat-trick of Amad's senior career - doubling his Premier League goal tally for the season in the space of eight second-half minutes - but it was the first top-flight treble United have been able to muster since Ronaldo delivered the goods against Norwich City in April 2022.

There had been 34 Premier League hat-tricks, scored by 22 unique players for 14 different clubs between United's last two entries. Erling Haaland alone had collected eight match balls - including one in a Manchester derby.

This is no modern phenomenon.

Much like most statistics that are even vaguely positive, Manchester United's tally of hat-tricks has plummeted since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013. The Red Devils won that year's title with a trio of goals from Robin van Persie against Aston Villa, but didn't register another top-flight treble until June 2020, when Anthony Martial hit a rare pocket of good form during a visit from Sheffield United.

Bruno Fernandes completes the quartet of players to have scored a post-Ferguson Premier League hat-trick for United. Including Romelu Lukaku's trio of goals in Ferguson's bonkers farewell match, six different players have scored hat-tricks against the club in that same time frame.