Amad showed Erik ten Hag and Manchester United exactly what they’re missing amid the club’s current right-wing woes with a stellar performance for Sunderland tonight. The 20-year-old produced an intelligent assist and a stunning goal in the opening 50 minutes against Birmingham City.
Amad endured a tough start to life in the Championship after completing a season-long loan switch to Sunderland in the summer. But he has come to life under Tony Mowbray and recorded his best performance since arriving in England against Birmingham at St. Andrew’s.
Mowbray named the three-cap Ivory Coast international in his starting line-up for the fifth successive game as Sunderland vied to enter the top half of the Championship table. And he certainly didn’t disappoint, first setting up Ellis Simms’ opener by showcasing quick feet around a swarm of the hosts’ defenders before playing an intelligent pass into the box.
Amad started the second half in an even better fashion, picking the ball up on the right and cutting inside to fire an unstoppable curling strike past John Ruddy. He capped it off with a joyous celebration in front of the travelling Black Cats supporters, who are quickly growing increasingly fond of him.
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Amad was withdrawn after 66 minutes after picking up a knock, but Ten Hag will have loved what he saw during his time on the pitch. The Dutch coach is likely craving a player of a similar ilk in his side, with Antony’s absence through injury causing problems in recent weeks.
A left-footed right-winger seems crucial to Ten Hag’s system, but he has had to push Bruno Fernandes out wide and has handed Donny van de Beek starts centrally in the last three games. But his former Ajax pupil has failed to make any impact, most notably as part of a toothless attack at Aston Villa last Sunday as United’s unbeaten run came crashing to a halt.
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The United boss will hope Amad can continue his development throughout the remainder of the season at Sunderland before joining Facundo Pellistri in providing Antony with competition on the right. He’s scored three goals and registered one assist in his current run of five starts.
Antony isn’t expected to feature at Fulham on Sunday, leaving Ten Hag with another dilemma, with Van de Beek maintaining his place surely out of the question. He could push Marcus Rashford to the right again to accommodate Alejandro Garnacho, but that is an experiment that has already failed. Jadon Sancho is also likely to miss out again through illness.
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