Southampton fail to overcome Man United in lacklustre display

The Saints are left rooted to the bottom of the table after suffering a 3-0 defeat to Erik Ten Hag’s side.

After being beaten in their opening three fixtures, Russell Martin hoped that the international break could provide some much needed time to rethink his strategies in order to get Southampton’s season up and running in their first game back against Manchester United.

And the start of the game seemed to show evidence of the work paying off, as the Saints played some of their best attacking football so far this season, as well as putting a lot of pressure on their opponents off the ball, not allowing United to get a foothold in the game early on.

One standout performance in this period, and throughout his entire stint on field, was Saints youngster Tyler Dibling, who made his first Premier League start on the day. The 18-year-old was Southampton’s biggest attacking threat, showing tremendous footwork and skills down the right hand side giving Diego Dalot a tough time.

In the 31st minute, Dibling’s determination and hard work paid off as he beat Dalot to a ball through from Yukinari Sugawara, forcing Dalot to commit a foul just inside the area, gifting the Saints a well deserved chance to go in front.

PENALTY CHANCE

Summer signing Cameron Archer was the man to step up to take the penalty, despite never having taken a penalty before in his career before the game. After a lengthy wait for the referee to blow his whistle, the 22-year-old took a short run up, but was only able to release a tame effort that was easily palmed away by Andre Onana.

And that moment seemed to be the turn of the tides in this game, as only two minutes later, Matthijs De Ligt turned in a Bruno Fernandes cross after being left unmarked at the far post to make it 1-0 to the visitors.

A few minutes later, United doubled their lead thanks to Marcus Rashford, who was afforded the time and space to curl a shot into the far corner, giving the Red Devils a comfortable advantage going into the break.

After the restart, Southampton were still struggling to get back into the game, and in the 63rd minute, Russell Martin made a quadruple substitution in the hope to reignite the energy and pressure Saints had showed in the early stages.

Tyler Dibling was one of the names called off, which was responded to by a roar of boos from the Southampton fans, after he had been the shining light in what was turning out to be a dim day for the Saints. Deadline day signings Maxwel Cornet and Ryan Fraser were brought on with Ross Stewart to form a completely new frontline for the Saints, along with Adam Lallana who was hoping to create some magic in the midfield.

RELEGATION ZONE

However, Southampton still struggled to lay a finger on Man United, who seemed very comfortable in the fixture. But in the 79th minute, the game became even tougher for the Saints as they were reduced to 10-men; captain Jack Stephens was sent off for a high and late challenge on Alejandro Garnacho.

And that wasn’t the last involvement Garnacho had in the game, as in the last minute of added time he netted United’s third goal, smashing it in from close range, giving Aaron Ramsdale no chance of saving.

Southampton were left well beaten on the day, where excluding a few individual performances, not many positives could be taken. Following the results of the rest of the weekend fixtures, the Saints were still sitting in 19th, as both they and Everton have failed to accrue any points this season.

Russell Martin and his side travel to Goodison Park midweek in the hopes to continue their cup run with a positive result against Everton. Then, at the weekend, the Saints will be back at home again, where they’ll face fellow promoted side Ipswich Town, in what already looks like a must-win for the south coast club.