Diogo Dalot was an unlikely name on the scoresheet as Manchester United skipped past Real Sociedad in the Europa League.
It was one of the best nights in a dire season as Manchester United beat Real Sociedad 4-1 to reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
The Europa League may be Europe’s second-rate competition, but it’s the only trophy United can win this season as well as being Ruben Amorim’s only way of getting the team back into the Champions League next season.
Essentially, it’s a way for United’s head coach to salvage something from what has been a difficult campaign. And, there isn’t a better way of doing that than adding to United’s list of trophies.
United got the job done convincingly, despite an early setback, keeping them on route to reach the Europa League final in Bilbao. They were inspired again by captain Bruno Fernandes who netted his second hat-trick for the club.
Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images
Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images
Diogo Dalot convinced by Ruben Amorim’s methods
It has been a challenging season for Diogo Dalot, but he will have a spring in his step this morning after a strong display against Real Sociedad.
So far this season, the Portuguese full-back has featured in 44 of 45 fixtures across all competitions.
Dalot is a reliable component in Amorim’s system in terms of availability, but he’s not one for getting his name on the scoresheet.
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However, on Thursday night, Dalot got on the scoresheet in injury time to wrap up a 5-2 aggregate victory.
The atmosphere was electric at Old Trafford and Dalot believes that stemmed from the team sticking to the plan set by Amorim, suggesting he is convinced by the methods being implemented by United’s new head coach.
Dalot also revealed a message he sent to his United team-mates on the pitch after the match.
“It was something that I said to them [my teammates] at the end of the game in the stadium,” Dalot told MUTV during a live post-match broadcast. “I said, ‘Get used to this feeling, get used to the fans finishing the game and staying here to applaud you’.
“There was a good feeling around the people that are with us every single game. It is just about trying to keep this consistency.
“I know it has been difficult to be a Man United supporter these last couple of months, but we are giving everything so we can change the situation. Today, I think we gave one more good step towards the direction we want to go.”
Dalot’s comments suggest he believes Amorim is the man to turn the club’s fortunes around. Ineos will certainly hope so.
Dalot hails Manchester United teammates
United’s season was heavily dependent on getting a positive result against Real Sociedad at Old Trafford.
Dalot took the time to compliment his fellow United first-team teammates after what he felt was a “complete performance.”
The right-back added: “I think it was a complete performance, in my opinion.
“We started a little bit bumpy with the penalty but I think, even after the penalty, you saw that we kept calm, kept doing exactly what was planned, we were really composed on the ball and I think we had really good moments.
“We could have had more [goals]. But in terms of the performance, I am really happy with what we did today and to go through, that was the main goal for us.”