So is this the new United? Dig in, scrap, fight... and celebrate a sketchy 1-0 win
IT IS one thing beating Liverpool in a febrile atmosphere in front of your own fans under the Monday night lights with a performance fuelled by the desperation that comes with wanting to atone for a 4-0 drubbing at Brentford. And with the adrenaline of playing for pride against your fiercest rivals when humiliation and ridicule are waiting for you around the corner.
It is quite another trying to build on that flimsy foundation on a balmy summer afternoon of ice-creams and short sleeves on England’s south coast when the crisis has passed and the desperation has dimmed. Faced with a Southampton team already digging in for the long haul, many thought Manchester United might revert to type. They did not.
They did not win any prizes for beautiful football, either, but they dug in and they fought and they scrapped and they defended for their lives and they weathered storms and they harried and chased and when the final whistle blew on a clean sheet and a sketchy 1-0 win, their defenders raised their arms aloft as if they believed this was a result carrying some significance.
Time will tell but the win lifted United, for a short time, to the heady heights of sixth place and this match brought more tentative signs of recovery from the trauma of that humiliation in west London and their home defeat by Brighton. One of those signs was that Erik ten Hag, who can take a breath at last in his new job at Old Trafford, named the same starting XI that beat Liverpool.
That meant Cristiano Ronaldo remained on the bench, which, frankly, is the best place for him. Ronaldo, at this stage of his fabled career, is made to be an impact substitute and that was how Ten Hag used him. It will do the manager’s authority no harm at all to have had the courage to keep his biggest name on the sidelines and gain another victory in the process.
Ten Hag spoke of his happiness that his players were beginning to obey his ‘rules’ and abide by his ‘laws’ and if that all sounded rather authoritarian, that was probably because it is what United’s players need. When he was asked whether this might have been Ronaldo’s last game for United, Ten Hag was non-committal. Would Ronaldo be at Old Trafford beyond the end of the transfer window? ‘I hope so,’ Ten Hag said.
Everything worked at St Mary’s. The club skipper Harry Maguire remained on the bench as well and his replacement as captain, Bruno Fernandes, scored the winner with a fine volley that rounded off a sharp move early in the second half. There was also a debut for new £70million signing Casemiro, and even in the short time he was on the pitch, he impressed with energy and desire.
If it feels strange not reading anything negative about United, you can at least take solace in the fact that they were wearing a repulsive green kit. United have got a history with away strips in matches against Southampton after they changed out of a grey kit at half-time in a league game at The Dell in 1996.
Some suggested this one had been designed so United could blend in with the grass but if it was an excuse for them to hide, their defence refused to take it.
Prompted with elegant economy by Christian Eriksen, who is more of a delight to watch than ever, United moved the ball around well in the early stages but even though they threatened several times to unlock the home defence, their only attempt on goal was an over-ambitious 50-yard chip from Fernandes that bounced tamely into the hands of Gavin Bazunu.
Then, midway through the first half, United could have scored four times in ten seconds. Fernandes miscued a header at the back post when he ought to have scored but the ball fell to Anthony Elanga and his snap-shot brought a fine save out of Bazunu. The danger had not been cleared and when the rebound bounced in front of Fernandes, it seemed he must score. But just as Fernandes tried to prod the ball into the net, Kyle Walker-Peters flung himself at it and blocked it. Now the ball fell to Eriksen, who adjusted his body and volleyed goalwards but it was the turn of Armel Bella-Kotchap to save his team with a point-blank block.
Reprieved, Southampton grew into the game and after half an hour they should have taken the lead. A corner was flicked on at the near post and Bella-Kotchap was allowed to take a touch in the box before stretching for a shot a few yards out. He only needed to keep the ball down to score but lifted it over the bar.
There was some extra significance in that miss. It helped United reach the 38th minute of a match without conceding a goal for the first time since February.
Ten minutes after half-time United carved the home defence apart down the right until the ball reached Diogo Dalot. Dalot looked up and picked out Fernandes with a driven pinpoint cross and Fernandes drilled it low past Bazunu on the volley.
Scott McTominay appeared to handle twice — ‘three times, actually’, Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl said — as he tried to clear in the box but VAR thought otherwise. David de Gea made a fine reaction save, pushing out a header from Joe Aribo and then watching gratefully as WalkerPeters nodded the rebound over. United dug in to protect their lead as best they could. Bella-Kotchap blazed over five minutes from the end and then Sekou Mara clipped a volley agonisingly wide.