In what was Southampton’s last game of a disappointing 2017, they showed great character and resolve to hold Manchester United to a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford.
Southampton, coming off the back of a 5-2 Boxing Day defeat against Tottenham, were not given much of a chance pre-game with pundits and fans alike predicting that Saints would fall to another defeat and United would emerge from their Christmas slump.
However, inspired performances by certain Saints players ensured that they had something to take back to the south coast ahead of a six-pointer against Crystal Palace at St. Mary’s.
The Saints again were without full-backs Cedric Soares and Ryan Bertrand, as they continued recovery from injuries sustained in the 1-0 loss at Chelsea. It was also the first game for The Saints since they sold Virgil van Dijk in a world-record deal – and they didn’t seem to miss him in defence as countryman Wesley Hoedt had a stellar game, earning man of the match.
Manchester United’s best chance came courtesy of Romelu Lukaku in the fourth minute when he met Juan Mata’s cross with perhaps too much power, heading over Alex McCarthy’s goal from close range.
The Belgian was later stretchered off after a nasty looking clash with Hoedt, but reports confirmed the injury isn’t as serious as first thought.
James Ward-Prowse then went close after Sofiane Boufal’s brilliant pull back, with David De Gea at full stretch to keep the English midfielder out. Ward-Prowse then tested De Gea again with a wicked free-kick, but the Spanish ‘keeper made the save look easy.
The big moment in the game came on the stroke of half-time when a loose ball sprung off Jesse Lingard and struck Maya Yoshida’s hand. The footballing world seems split on whether the incident warranted a penalty, with BT in-house referee Chris Foy telling viewers that match official Craig Pawson ‘made the right decision’.
Southampton had just one more massive chance in the second half, when a low ball fired into Shane Long meant he snatched at a shot – perhaps not quite getting the contact he wanted – but David De Gea had to make a great save nonetheless.
United then were the architects of their own failure on 81 minutes when Paul Pogba touched home Nemanja Matic’s effort from an offside position.