Southampton 0-1 Manchester United: Match recap
By Chris Hughes
Despite a valiant second-half performance, Southampton couldn’t grab that all important goal, losing 1-0 to Manchester United.
Romelu Lukaku equaled Louis Saha’s record of six league goals from his first six league games as he grabbed the rebound from his own header to slot home in the 20th minute.
Southampton started in a lively fashion but didn’t create much early on, with Jose Mourinho’s side capitalizing as Fraser Forster saved his header right back into the his path. The Belgian now has eight goals in as many games in all competitions for United.
Southampton now have just one goal in all competitions from their last 15 hours of football at St. Mary’s, with a worrying lack of chance creation once again being Mauricio Pellegrino’s side’s biggest weakness.
The result leaves the Saints on eight points, meaning they currently sit 11th in the table with several sides around them yet to play.
However, having recorded 16 league goals prior to today’s game, Southampton can be proud that they kept the free-scoring side at bay.
With Shane Long starting up top, Southampton played with a high tempo and pressured early on but failed to create a lot of chances before Lukaku’s goal.
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The Belgian’s strike came after Fraser Forster produced what seems initially to be a good reaction from a header – however his palmed effort fell straight back to the formidable striker, who bundled it home from five yards out.
After conceding Southampton had the wind knocked out of their sails and were soon having much less possession of the ball, with a tame effort from Mario Lemina being their best effort on goal.
United had four corners before the half-time whistle was blown with Juan Mata, Marcus Rashford and Henrikh Mkhitaryan offering plenty with their inter-changing and versatile attacking play.
However the Saints were the better team in the second half, starting with plenty of pressure and forcing Jose Mourinho to bring on both Ander Herrera and Chris Smalling as part of a tactical reshuffle.
Nathan Redmond and Oriol Romeu had chances late as both Charlie Austin and Manolo Gabbiadini both featured off the bench. Late on saw Jose Mourinho sent to the stands for something said to the fourth official, as United saw out the win.