Manchester United 0 Southampton 0
Manchester United suffered a frustrating 0-0 draw against Southampton at Old Trafford, after Casemiro was sent off in the first half.
United’s best chance of the game fell to Bruno Fernandes, whose curling effort forced Saints goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu to make a great save to force it onto the post.
David De Gea’s heroics helped to keep the game goalless. He firstly denied Theo Walcott in the first half with an incredible reflex save from close range. And in the second half, when Walcott went one-on-one with the Spanish goalkeeper, De Gea managed to pull off a wonderful save to preserve the clean sheet.
FIRST HALF: CASEMIRO SEES RED
United started off with a series of quick counter attacks. The best of those came when Antony tried to find the run of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, but the right-back’s cross was easily dealt with by the Saints defence. Moments later, Luke Shaw was able to whip in a wonderful cross into the penalty area, but it went over the head of Wout Weghorst and Antony was unable to get a clean enough connection to have a shot on target.
Marcus Rashford featured in the next attack. After playing a quick one-two with Bruno Fernandes, the English international darted into the box. Shrugging off the defender, the in-form forward tried to tuck the ball into the far corner, but his shot was saved by Gavin Bazunu.
In response, the Saints came forward to create their best opportunity of the half. After a number of missed opportunities to take a shot at David De Gea’s goal, United’s clearance fell to left-back Romain Perraud, who fired a cross into the path of Theo Walcott. The ex-Arsenal forward’s thunderous header forced De Gea to make a world-class reflex save to force the ball over the crossbar and keep the deadlock intact.
The game took a dramatic turn when Casemiro was sent off for a challenge on Carlos Alcaraz. The Brazilian midfielder put in a strong tackle on the Argentinian, with referee Anthony Taylor initially showing a yellow card. But after checking with VAR, the referee changed his decision and produced the red card to put United down to 10 men. This means that Casemiro will miss the next four games, due to it being his second sending-off of the season.
United responded positively to the dismissal, with Fernandes sending in a wonderful free-kick to the back post into the path of Raphael Varane, but the defender’s shot was saved well by Bazunu.
There was further controversy when Rashford’s cross was blocked by Armel Bella-Kotchap’s arm in the area, but Anthony Taylor decided the active limb was in a natural position and declined to award the Reds a penalty.
SECOND HALF: DE GEA SAVES A POINT
Southampton tried to take advantage of having the extra man and nearly made United pay for it. Kyle Walker-Peters got the better of Marcus Rashford on the right wing, made his way into the area and whipped a cross into the middle. Reds substitute Scott McTominay tried to steer the ball out past the post, but instead it could have resulted in an own goal had it not been for Aaron Wan-Bissaka clearing off the line.
The Saints kept knocking at the door to open the scoring. Breaking away from a United corner, Theo Walcott found himself one-on-one with David De Gea. But with Lisandro Martinez bearing down on him, the ex-England winger tried to fire a shot over the Spaniard and De Gea produced another brilliant save to keep the game level.
United looked to have finally broken the deadlock when Shaw managed to get the better of the Southampton defence, and found Bruno Fernandes in a good amount of space. The Portuguese midfielder took one touch to get the ball onto his preferred right foot and fired a great strike towards goal, but Bazunu’s slight touch was enough to force the shot onto the post and out for a corner.
Meanwhile, from another counter attack, Walker-Peters managed to fire a left-footed effort towards the United goal, which also resulted in the ball hitting the post.
United tried to find the winner in the closing minutes. Young substitute Facundo Pellistri, who made a big impact on Thursday night against Real Betis, managed to squeeze a great pass to Wan-Bissaka on the right wing. The right-back managed to fire in a low cross aiming for Marcus Rashford, but the Saints defence were quick to react, ending the Reds' last attack.
United: De Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Martinez (Maguire, 90) Shaw, Casemiro, Fernandes, Antony (Pellistri, 72) Weghorst (McTominay, 43) Sancho (Garnacho, 72) (Fred, 90) Rashford.
Substitutes: Heaton, Dalot, Malacia, Mainoo.
Booked: Martinez, Shaw.
Red card: Casemiro.
Southampton: Bazunu, Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Bella-Kotchap, Perraud, Ward-Prowse, Lavia, Walcott (Onuachu, 85), Alcaraz (S Armstrong, 55), Sulemana (A Armstrong, 76), Adams (Mara, 76).
Substitutes: McCarthy, Caleta-Car, Salisu, Elyounoussi, Diallo.
SOCIAL MEDIA REACTION
ANTONY
Estaremos sempre juntos, irmão!! Levanta a cabeça, temos muito pela frente!! 👊🏽👊🏽 @Casemiro pic.twitter.com/QiSQmF50oP
— Antony Santos (@antony00) March 12, 2023