Manchester United survived a first-half penalty scare to see off Southampton 3-0 at St Mary’s Stadium.
Andre Onana saved Cameron Archer’s spot-kick on the half-hour and that proved pivotal to the story of the match, as the Reds responded and ended the opening period in fine style.
Matthijs de Ligt headed home his maiden goal for United and Marcus Rashford scored for the first time since March, much to the pleasure of our travelling support.
Aaron Ramsdale prevented us from extending our lead on numerous occasions, before Saints had captain Jack Stephens sent off for a high tackle on Alejandro Garnacho.
All in all, it was a comfortable afternoon on the south coast, with Garnacho putting the seal on proceedings in stoppage time.
FIRST HALF – REDS SPARK INTO LIFE AFTER PENALTY
The game kicked off amid beautiful south-coast sunshine, with United sporting our dark blue adidas away strip for the first time in a competitive outing.
Amad and Christian Eriksen were brought into the side, but it was one of the Saints’ changes who had the first sighter, as youngster Tyler Dibling ran clear down the right and curled a left-footed effort that looked bound to nestle in the net, only for Onana to claw the ball clear.
As can happen in these early Saturday kick-offs, particularly after an international break, the visitors started a little sluggishly but could have taken the lead on 15 minutes, had Joshua Zirkzee been able to generate more contact on Eriksen’s beautifully measured pass.
Noussair Mazraoui had a volley easily saved by Ramsdale but both sides were finding most of their attacking joy down their right, with August’s Player of the Month winner Amad fleet of foot and Southampton full-back Yukinari Sugawara forcing De Ligt to hook away his seemingly goalbound strike.
Erik ten Hag’s men were coming under serious pressure now and the tricky Dibling forced Diogo Dalot into a rash challenge, right on the edge of the penalty area.
Referee Stuart Attwell did not hesitate in pointing to the spot, but there was a brief pause as the VAR confirmed the positioning of the foul. The 51-second wait doubtless affected Archer, who saw his low kick stopped by Onana, along with the subsequent headed rebound.
Good interplay between Rashford and Zirkzee led to the latter having his low effort tipped behind by Ramsdale and, from the resulting corner, Bruno Fernandes’s flighted cross was expertly met by De Ligt, who was able to open his account in English football.
Six minutes later it got even better for the suddenly ruthless Reds when, after Ramsdale had denied Rashford, the England international isolated his man and finished superbly, through a mass of red-and-white striped shirts, to get off the mark in 2024/25.
And it could have been three just before the break, when Dalot evaded the offside trap and fed De Ligt. The Dutchman stumbled a little, however, allowing Ramsdale to come out and smother the attempt.
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