Southampton equaliser slows Man Utd’s push

MANCHESTER: Manchester United’s Champions League qualification hopes suffered a blow after an equaliser deep in stoppage time from Michael Obafemi earned Southampton a 22 draw in the English Premier League at Old Trafford yesterday.

United, unbeaten in 18 games in all competitions, was poised to move up to third after Anthony Martial’s 23rdminute strike had put it 21 ahead.

It had fallen behind to an early Stuart Armstrong goal before Marcus Rashford equalised.

But on the day that secondplaced Manchester City’s twoyear ban from European football was overturned on appeal, meaning only the top four will qualify for the Champions League as usual, United’s late lapse left it fifth on 59 points.

Leicester City is fourth, ahead of United on goal difference, with Chelsea third on 60 points. City and title winner Liverpool have already secured Champions League places for next season.

United had to finish the game with 10 men after Brandon Williams went off injured.

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had no substitute opportunities, and his side failed to hold on to the three points when Obafemi turned in a poorly defended corner at the back post.

James WardProwse’s inswinger was flicked on by Jan Bednarek and Obafemi got in front of Victor Lindelof to find the decisive touch.

‘‘The second half was a bit of a slog. We were not good enough on the ball.

‘‘We brought pressure on to ourselves but we felt we did enough to win the game,’’ United

captain Harry Maguire said.

‘‘We have improved on defending set plays. We had a terrible record at the start of the season but have been really good on them. Can’t get let him get a header in when we have four men around the goal so have to look at it.

‘‘We are disappointed a the moment but we dust ourselves down tomorrow,’’ he added.

Meanwhile, the Premier League said yesterday one person returned a positive result in its latest round of Covid19 tests conducted on players and staff last week, taking the total number of cases to 20 since testing began in May.

The league did not reveal the club or the name of the individual who tested positive. — Reuters