Rooney Double Downs Plucky Saints – Manchester United vs Southampton

A Wayne Rooney inspired Manchester United came from a goal down to beat a spirited Southampton side in Mauricio Pochettino’s first away game for the club.

Jay Rodriguez gave Southampton an early lead with his goal in the 3^rd minute.  A poor back pass to the keeper from Michael Carrick allowed Rodriguez to put away his 3^rd league goal of the season, nipping in front of David De Gea and slotting home from a tight angle. However within six minutes United were level courtesy of the first of Wayne Rooney’s brace. A perfectly weighted lobbed through ball from Shinji Kagawa set Rooney through on goal to finish calmly from inside the box.

After the goal United’s confidence grew and they pushed further forward in what was effectively a 4-2-4 formation. Even before Rooney’s second the impressive Kagawa saw his effort hit the post while his neat lay-off to Robin Van Persie led to the Dutchman smashing his effort over the bar. The 3^rd goal of the match came however when Van Persie swung a dangerous free kick into the box from the right. The ball met the head of Patrice Evra and fell kindly for Rooney to tap home from a yard out.

Lambert put in another dominant aerial display against the league leaders -credit: @officialsaints

Manchester United’s confident first half display had, at times, threatened to overrun Southampton and after the break Pochettino saw fit to make two changes, replacing Gaston Ramirez and Jason Puncheon with Adam Lallana and Steven Davis respectively. The changes certainly worked as Southampton all but dominated the second half, with the United keeper under pressure again.

Despite Southampton ‘keeper Artur Boruc making an outstanding point-blank save from Van Persie, the half was firmly in the control of the visitors with Rickie Lambert going close on a number of occasions. The most notable chance came when Lambert had his precise effort from a free-kick on the edge of the box saved by the keeper. In fairness to United Van Persie had a second half header incorrectly ruled out for offside, yet on balance it was Southampton who were the ones who were more likely to have felt aggrieved at the end of the match, with their second half display certainly deserving of a draw.

Writer’s Comment:  Sir Alex Ferguson commented after the game that his side were “fortunate to win the game” – high praise indeed. The pressure that Southampton’s players put on their opposite numbers had shades of Barcelona about it and was reminiscent of the style that Pochettino employed at his previous club Espanyol. Although they left with nothing, the Saints showed more than enough to suggest that they will be safe from relegation this season. However, these are not the kind of matches where they need to be picking up points. Saturday’s away clash against Wigan is, and will indicate just how good Pochettino’s Saints side are.

Man Of The Match: Wayne Rooney