Three late goals from Amad Diallo dragged a below-par Manchester United to an unlikely 3-1 comeback victory over bottom side Southampton in the Premier League on Thursday.
United will have fancied their chances of getting back to winning ways against struggling Saints but the hosts were second best from the off, deservedly falling behind to a Manuel Ugarte own goal just before halftime.
Staring down the barrel of another home defeat, United upped the ante after the break, getting back on level terms through Diallo eight minutes from time, before the Ivorian completed the turnaround in the 90th minute.
A stoppage-time third to complete his hat-trick flattered United, who climbed to 12th in the standings with 26 points from 21 games amid another disappointing season, while Southampton stay on six points and remain 10 adrift of the safety zone.
"In football you to have believe," Diallo told TNT Sports. "Very happy to win this. We know we have quality players but we need sometimes to be more hungry in the final third. Today we showed at the end we were the best team on the pitch."
While there has certainly been recent improvement under new coach Ruben Amorim, United still came into Thursday's encounter looking to avoid a fourth successive home league defeat for the first time since 1934.
Their lack of confidence on the ball was apparent in a poor first half showing. Alejandro Garnacho, making his first league start in over a month, sliced one golden chance well wide but otherwise the visitors were creating the best openings.
A double save from Andre Onana to deny Southampton's lively Tyler Dibling and then Mateus Fernandes from the rebound was the pick of the United goalkeeper’s busy opening period.
The hosts looked like they might get to halftime and regroup but Ugarte's misfortune, with the ball going in off his back from a corner, gave the visitors a deserved lead at the break.
A much-improved United finally started to create more opportunities in the second period, with substitute Antony somehow contriving to miss from close range, but it looked like they would again be frustrated on their own turf.
Then came Diallo's late intervention.
There was an element of fortune about the 22-year-old's equaliser, but the 90th-minute winner was sublime in its creation from Christian Eriksen and execution before Diallo's first United treble was gift-wrapped by Saints' sloppiness playing out from the back.
Only Wayne Rooney has scored a Premier League hat-trick for United at a younger age (21) than Diallo, who is only the third player in Premier League history to score three times in the final 10 minutes of a game.
A first United win, in normal time, in seven matches in all competitions was much needed. The performance, however, did little to appease the disgruntled Old Trafford faithful.
"I am from Italy, we are the best in the world in the mentality and the players they are missing in this," Saints manager Ivan Juric said.
"There is a moment you have to be Italian. We are innocent, like kids, playing well and they score. We have to be more evil."
Brighton snap winless streak
Kaoru Mitoma and Georginio Rutter both scored to end Brighton & Hove Albion's run of eight Premier League games without a win as their side beat Ipswich Town 2-0 at Portman Road on Thursday.
The victory lifts Brighton to ninth place on 31 points, while Ipswich slip to 17th on 16 and back into the relegation zone behind Wolverhampton Wanderers on goals scored.
The hosts started well despite Brighton enjoying plenty of possession and Nathan Broadhead created the first decent chance of the game for Ipswich with a shot from outside the box but Bart Verbruggen got down to steer the ball behind for a corner.
Five minutes later striker Liam Delap had a go from a similar position but again the Brighton goalkeeper was equal to the task and the Dutchman had to be on his toes again when midfielder Omari Hutchinson let fly just before the break.
Ipswich fullback Wes Burns flashed a shot just wide after a well-worked long throw in the 57th minute but the home side's failure to take their chances finally cost them dear two minutes later when Mitoma struck.
A sliced clearance fell to Swedish midfielder Yasin Ayari and he cleverly fed Matt O’Riley, who teed up the Japanese winger for a first-time finish.
With Ipswich reeling, keeper Christian Walton got a measure of revenge on Brighton's Joao Pedro, who got a yellow card for clattering into him early in the second half, by making a superb save to prevent his 67th-minute shot flying into the top corner.
Brighton were not to be denied, however, and substitute Rutter fired home form close range in the 82nd to wrap up the three points and end the visitors' long winless run.
"It was a long time and we suffered a little bit, and I'm really happy for the players, really happy also for the staff, because they do a lot of work in the shadows, and today, I think we deserve to win, and we're happy," Brighton coach Fabian Huerzeler said.
"An important thing (during the winless run) was to stay predictable, to stay calm and to trust the process, and I think the performances were not that bad, and we could easily win one of these eight games where we weren't able to win," he added.
Both sides will be back in action again on Sunday, with Brighton travelling to Manchester United and Ipswich hosting Manchester City.
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