Manuel Ugarte sets himself to trap a looping high ball. Manchester City's players back away from him, expecting to fight for a loose second ball, but Ugarte kills it dead. He then catches everyone out by immediately backheeling the ball into space where Lisandro Martinez jogs onto it and plays it out wide to Diogo Dalot. The wingback takes a couple of touches - and having spread City thin by pulling them wide, plays it back inside to a deep-lying Bruno Fernandes. He, in turn, nudges it back to Martinez. In acres of space, he looks up to see Amad Diallo take off.
Of course, Amad Diallo had taken off. He always takes off. He always runs. Diminutive and long-sleeved, he's a whirring bright red dynamo for the duration he's on the pitch. Whether it's been a bad day or a good one, whether he's snatching at his chances or burying them, Amad does not stop running. When Ruben Amorim came in, you could understand why he immediately slotted him in for that demanding wingback role that Amorim's system requires. But the more Amorim saw him play, the more he saw just how quick his feet were in tight spaces, how much quicker his brain was, the more he pulled him inside. And that's where he started the Manchester derby. With Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho left at home, Manchester United rocked up to the derby with Amad Diallo as one of the two inside forwards in Amorim's 3-4-3 set up.
Closer to goal now, he was United's best player on the night. Arguably, he was the best player on the pitch -- certainly the only one who seemed to be truly enjoying himself. The two teams are going through rough patches of very different natures but amid all the tentativeness, Amad was sure footed and direct. As he always is.
After City had scored a fortuitously-created superbly-taken opener, they'd not posed much of a threat. United weren't much sharper, but when they did get things right it was inevitably Amad at the heart of it: like when he powered a header down and at goal to force Ederson into his first serious save, an hour into the match. But it was his running that created an opening for United to get back into the game.
Chasing and harrying a backline that seemed content to pass the ball amongst themselves, he had pounced on an under-powered back pass from Matheus Cunha, ran at Ederson, waited for Cunha to come back and hack him down to win a penalty (which Bruno Fernandes converted with minimal fuss). At 1-1, he was still full of running when Martinez spotted him in the 90th minute.
Martinez's ball is perfect, a looping waft which was strong enough to evade the horribly mis-positioned Josko Gvardiol and tempting enough to draw Ederson off his line. The incessant Amad times his run superbly to take advantage of the chaotic City defensive line, reaches the ball just before Ederson... and then magic: A stretch to get to the ball before the big goalie. A touch to loop it above and beyond Ederson. A side foot placed -- after calmly waiting for the ball to drop and connecting just before it hit the ground -- with enough power and direction to evade both a despairing Ederson and a backtracking Gvardiol. 0-1, 1-1, 2-1.
The skill, and imagination, to create the chance was extraordinary, the finish even more so, but it was his running, his never-give-up-on-a-chance mentality, that had made the second goal, what lifted Manchester United to a glorious win.
"He showed again today he is always alive," said his captain Fernandes after the win. "That is why he gets the penalty, why he gets the goal. He has been brilliant. When he is like this is, he is unstoppable."
It's that mentality that makes him the most vital cog in this new Amorim machine... and it's been a long time coming. Ever since joining United as a hyper-talented big money signing from Atalanta (aged 18), he had found chances at Old Trafford were hard to come by. At first, he went on loan, to Rangers and Sunderland (where he became a cult hero), before coming back to United and being ignored for the most part by Erik Ten Hag. It was a tough period, an environment in which many a young player would have wilted. He didn't. He persevered. Now, with this derby performance, and this magical derby winner, there ought to be no looking back. It's Amad's time to shine.
For that, for the wonderful skill and attitude that saw him score the winner in a Manchester Derby, Amad Diallo takes our Moment of the Weekend.