Manchester United were seemingly flummoxed by a chance-happy Southampton in the first 45-minutes, but managed to muscle the result around thanks to a late hat-trick from Amad Diallo.
Despite the turnaround, former United midfielder Paul Scholes was critical of what he had seen from the hosts.
Asked if belief had been restored for him, pundit Scholes said: "No, not really. I think for 80-minutes that's as bad a performance as you’ll see, especially against a team who are bottom of the league."
The ex-United player went on to praise Southampton's skill and tactics, that outclassed United for the majority of the game.
"I have to give Southampton credit as well. Bottom of the league, but I thought they were so much better than Man United for 75, 80-minutes of that game, the way they passed the ball, technically, tactically, and that’s probably why they are bottom, they can’t put teams away," reflects Scholes.
The only positive Scholes thinks Ruben Amorim can take away from the 90-minutes of football for the Reds is the performance of Diallo.
"For Manchester United, Diallo was the one bright spark. I still think the manager will still be bitterly disappointed with that performance, against a team who really have struggled to score goals, concede goals all the time.
"I know Diallo has come and produced the win for them, and he’s the only one player for me who can take credit out of this game tonight," he added.
Diallo said it was "maybe one of the best weeks in my life" after he scored a late hat-trick to secure Manchester United a 3-1 win over Southampton a few days on from signing a new contract with the club.
The last United player to manage a Premier league hat-trick was Christiano Ronaldo against Norwich in April 2022, such has been their ability to score in recent seasons.
The 22-year-old Ivorian netted in the 82nd and 90th minutes before wrapping up his treble in the fourth minute of added-time in a dramatic finale at Old Trafford, and he told TNT Sports: "In football you have to believe.
"We believed until the end. We are very happy to win this game because we drew against Liverpool and Arsenal so the confidence was there.
"Maybe one of the best weeks in my life. I am very happy for this win because this team deserved to win this game.
"We know we have quality players in this team. 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.
"I am so happy to play where the manager (Amorim) wants me to play, and to score a hat-trick."
When cameras panned to the United dugout Amorim was seen with his head in his hands or looking increasingly frustrated as the clock ticked past 10-minutes.
Amorim told TNT Sports: "The feeling is we have so much to do.
"I felt the team really tired, because Liverpool, Arsenal, 120-minutes, and it's not just tired (in terms of) the physical part of the player, it is the mental part of the player. It was a win, (which) was good, let’s continue.
"We didn’t do a very good game, but in this moment winning is the most important thing.
"I want to be fair with my players. Today was not lack of enthusiasm, it was a lack of speed and sometimes lack of control of the game."
