Sunday People

SOUTHAMPTO­N MANCHESTER UNITED NO MOUR

Lukaku and Herrera rescue United... but Jose’s men look a mere shadow of the exciting United teams from the past

- By NEIL MOXLEY at St Mary’s Stadium

THE Premier League’s big guns have made light work of the Saints so far this season.

Mark Hughes’ team have played Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool.

Points won? Nil. Goals s cored? One. Goa l s conceded? Twelve.

However, that record was never in any serious doubt of being extended at St Mary’s Stadium last night.

And that, in itself is a damning indictment of where Jose Mourinho is with his Manchester United team. In fact, after little more than 12 minutes it could have been worse. The Portuguese was staring at a two-goal deficit – and a most unwanted defeat.

But, thanks to goals from Romelu Lukaku and Ander Herrera, any embarrassm­ent against the struggling Saints was spared.

It also spared Mourinho and his players having to answer awkward questions.

After an explosive first 45 minutes, this was a fair result.

Neither Hughes nor Mourinho (right) can truly trust their defences these days. The problems of the former Wales boss are laid bare by the club’s position in the relegation zone.

His counterpar­t’s are never far from the airwaves because even the most far- f lung football fans have heard his complaints about a lack of cover in defence.

For the record, Scott Mctominay and Nemanja Matic were handed the dubious honour.

Unsurprisi­ngly, the visitors could not get to grips with the unusual rearguard, shipping two goals inside the opening 13 minutes.

Hughes had taken the bold decision to pair Nathan Redm Mich

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 ??  ?? SOARING FREE-KICK Southampto­n double the lead thanks to Soares’ superb, curling set-piece HERR COMES EQUALISER United breathe a sigh of relief as Ander Herrera slots the ball home to even scores ARM AND DANGEROUS Saints’ Stuart Armstrong powers in the opening goal and stuns United
SOARING FREE-KICK Southampto­n double the lead thanks to Soares’ superb, curling set-piece HERR COMES EQUALISER United breathe a sigh of relief as Ander Herrera slots the ball home to even scores ARM AND DANGEROUS Saints’ Stuart Armstrong powers in the opening goal and stuns United
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