Manchester United 0-0 Southampton: Match recap
By Chris Hughes
Despite a valiant and much-improved performance by Mauricio Pellegrino’s Southampton, this evening’s late kick-off against Manchester United ended goalless.
In a game that was somewhat overshadowed by the unfortunate head injury suffered by United forward Romelu Lukaku, the Saints actually put out a decent and improved performance.
The Boxing Day drubbing at the hands of Tottenham seems like an age ago, with the big news this week being the sale of Virgil van Dijk to Liverpool for a record fee of £75 million.
With the Dutchman now gone the Saints seemed to have a boost in confidence, with more than one opportunity to snatch all three points at Old Trafford.
Pellegrino made a host of changes, with the most surprising being the decision to drop Fraser Forster and replace him with Alex McCarthy. It was the Englishman’s first PL appearance for the Saints, and it was capped with a solid performance and a clean sheet.
United remained the stronger side throughout the 90, with Paul Pogba’s flick correctly ruled for offside late on. Marcus Rashford was also lively whilst Ashley Young continued his solid run of form, this time as right-back.
The result sees the Saints jump up to 13th whilst a third successive draw for Jose Mourinho’s side means they could potentially be 17 points off the pace by the end of the weekend.
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Perhaps United’s best chance of the whole game came as early as the fourth minute – when Paul Pogba played a trademark pass right across the pitch to Juan Mata. The Spaniard’s cross was right onto the head of Romelu Lukaku, who should’ve done better with the finish.
The snatched header would end up being the Belgian’s only major involvement of the game, after a collision with Wesley Hoedt resulted in the striker needing to be stretchered off with oxygen support. Reports later confirmed it wasn’t as serious as first thought.
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The Saints themselves had an early chance courtesy of James Ward-Prowse – the Englishman’s low shot was brilliantly saved by David de Gea after JWP was found by a smart pull-back.
The 23-year-old would then test the United ‘keeper with a powerful free-kick, before Hoedt missed a golden opportunity with an open header.
The last big talking point of a lively first 45 came as Maya Yoshida appeared to handle a loose ball that sprung up off Jesse Lingard. In the second half, Shane Long – who has gone 35 games for club and country without a goal – had a wonderful chance saved once again by De Gea after a teasing low cross was fired into him.
United again enjoyed the better of the chances, but McCarthy was beaten only once – when Pogba touched home Matic’s already goal-bound effort in the 81st minute.
Next up for the Saints is a home match against Crystal Palace, one of only four teams Southampton have beaten under Mauricio Pellegrino. Manchester United meanwhile face a quick turnaround with a game against Everton on New Year’s Day.