It’s been five days since Old Trafford saw Manchester United turn the tides in their favour. The Red Devils hosted their eternal rivals Liverpool after two straight defeats to start their season under their newly appointed manager Erik ten Hag. Unable to fire on all cylinders and looking far from their usual best, Liverpool suffered a 2-1 defeat, while Ten Hag’s men exhibited their most promising display this season.
Travelling to St. Mary’s for the 4th Premier League match-day, United were expected to carry their momentum into their clash with Southampton, who came to the game on the back of an away victory at Leicester City.
There were plenty of reasons to feel confident: the Red Devils’ last defeat at St. Mary’s was 19 years ago in August of 2003, but nostalgia can sometimes blind. Manchester United’s record of seven straight away defeats is their worst since 1936, which gone on to lose 10 times on the trot. For deeper context, United conceded four goals in four of those seven games – the same number of times as in the previous 143.
Ten Hag must have been aware that momentum is crucial to his side’s success this season. The Dutchman made no changes on the side that beat Liverpool, even leaving out latest signing and spirit-raiser Casemiro in favour of Scott McTominay. Cristiano Ronaldo was also again left on the bench, with Marcus Rashford was selected at centre forward ahead him, still yet to score in back-to-back games since January.
Ralph Hasenhüttl chose to bring on last week’s brace scorer Che Adams into his starting eleven, relegating Sékou Mara to the bench.
The starting minutes of the game were concerning for Ten Hag’s side, struggling to play out past the high, asymmetric lines of Southampton.
Hasenhüttl contained United’s double pivot and back three via the rotating positioning of his four attackers, empowered by the versatility of Joe Aribo. Not a natural full-back, Moussa Djenepo and Kyle Walker-Peters on some occasions left their posts to contribute in defending higher up, supplying enough manpower to prohibit Manchester United’s talented attackers from getting the ball in their favoured positions.
Manchester United held back Tyrell Malacia alongside Lisandro Martinez and Raphaël Varane to form a three-man backline behind Christian Eriksen and Scott McTominay, so that Diogo Dalot could be pushed forward and provide width like Jadon Sancho on the other flank.
Dalot, Elanga and Sancho were able to keep their fullbacks busy to some extent and Ten Hag’s men managed to exploit some of the gaps around Southampton’s defence, especially behind Walker-Peters as he surged forward, but new signing Armel Bella-Kotchap was able to deal with almost every threat in that gap.
The first significant goal threat was created by Manchester United, when in the 19th minute they tried to make the most out of a scramble in the Southampton box, but their three shots were all brilliantly blocked by the defenders.
Manchester United grew slowly into the game and started to progress through Southampton’s frustrated, passive lines. The Saints were forced to build from the back more due to United’s attacks progressing high up to pitch.
United kept their 4-3-3 shape when pressing: wingers Elanga and Sancho limited the full-backs’ freedom, Eriksen and Fernandes marked Southampton’s deeper midfielders James Ward-Prowse and summer signing Romeo Lavia. Southampton opted several times to play long balls to Adams, who they isolated further up the pitch against Lisandro Martinez, but the Saints were unable to carve out anything.
In the 31st minute Ward-Prowse’s corner almost found its way into the net, but Bella-Kotchap couldn’t crown his brilliant first-half performance with a goal, putting it well over. Adams flicked the corner to the unmarked Bella-Kotchap at the back post but the Saints were unable to push one ahead.
Neither side was able to dominate the other, so the deadlock remained for the first half.
In the second half, Manchester United started to pile up pressure on Southampton’s goal. Only two minutes after Dalot was booked, Bella-Kotchap made a last ditch tackle on Elanga to keep the game square, but the Red Devils managed to fire themselves in front through their captain Fernandes – the Portuguese brilliantly firing Dalot’s cutback past Gavin Bazunu.
Hasenhüttl thought an intervention was necessary in order for his side to get back in the game, pulling the ineffective Mohammed Elyounoussi for Stuart Armstrong in the 63rd minute. The Austrian’s side responded well to this change, when just three minutes later Adam Armstrong forced a cross from the byline only for Aribo to fire his header straight at David de Gea – the Spaniard wasn’t able to get a hold of the ball, but the spilled ball was wasted by Walker-Peters following up.
Ten Hag responded with a move of his own by bringing on Cristiano Ronaldo at the expense of Sancho, hoping for the Portuguese to score against The Saints for the first time in seventeen years.
The remainder of the game didn’t bring any significant action apart from the substitutions. Hasenhüttl brought in Sekou Mara and Romain Perraud for Adam Armstrong and Moussa Djenepo, while Ten Hag gave Casemiro his Premier League debut alongside compatriot Fred at the expense of Anthony Elanga and Christian Eriksen.
Scott McTominay received a booking for pulling Joel Aribo in order to stop a Saints’ counter-attack and Manchester United were able to hold onto their lead until the final whistle of the game.
Lisandro Martinez, being one of the most controversial signings of the summer was once again in the spotlight. His brilliant performance, awarded with a clean sheet and his second straight Player of the Match award, gave Manchester United their second straight win and pushed them further up the table with six points from four games.
Despite their recent good form, Erik ten Hag and United have a lot on their hands. Their thin squad needs reinforcements and they don’t have much time to resolve this issue. Ronaldo, their only positive from their last controversy-filled season is sitting in isolation since Ten Hag’s appointment due to an endless transfer saga, filled with news of the Portuguese leaving the club just one year after rejoining.
When dealing with figures as big as Ronaldo or Manchester United, it’s inevitable that criticism won’t be far. The only way to hush the noise is to respond with a certain level of performance. Whether Ten Hag is hushing the criticism or only postponing it is to be seen, but the Dutchman is slowly imprinting his style on the Red Devils.
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