Match report: Southampton 0 United 3

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.

SECOND HALF – GARNACHO TAKES CENTRE STAGE

United sought to increase our cushion at the beginning of the second half, with Mazraoui’s near-post attempt to follow his friend De Ligt on to the scoresheet foiled by Ramsdale. A sloppy pass in midfield then allowed Fernandes to feed Rashford, who was unlucky to see his powerful drive hit Jan Bednarek and fly over the bar.

Ramsdale produced the best save of the contest, in leaping backwards to palm over another Rashford shot, this time from a considerable distance out as the confidence started to flow from our no.10.

In attempting to find a way back into the game, Saints were leaving space in attacking areas and Russell Martin attempted to stem the tide by making a quadruple change just after the hour mark.

Experienced duo Adam Lallana and Ryan Fraser were among the substitutes, but we continued to look comfortable and Ten Hag took advantage of the opportunity to blood new signing Manuel Ugarte in the Premier League for the first time.

Garnacho was also brought on and the Argentinian, with his freshly bleached crop of hair, was soon the target of a nasty looking challenge by Stephens, who looked surprised to receive his marching orders from Attwell.

United were content to see out the win, although there was still time for Taylor Harwood-Bellis to block Zirkzee’s goalbound shot, before Garnacho found the roof of the net from Dalot’s centre to score with virtually the final kick of the game.

MATCH DETAILS

United: Onana; Mazraoui (Maguire 74), De Ligt (Casemiro 87), Martinez (Evans 77), Dalot; Mainoo, Eriksen (Ugarte 74); Amad, Fernandes, Rashford (Garnacho 73); Zirkzee.

Subs not used: Bayindir, Collyer, Antony, Wheatley.

Goals: De Ligt 35, Rashford 41, Garnacho 90+6.

Booked: Mainoo, Eriksen, Fernandes, Maguire.

Southampton: Ramsdale; Sugawara, Stephens (c), Bednarek, Walker-Peters; Downes, Ugochukwu (Cornet 64), Fernandes (Harwood-Bellis 81), Dibling (Lallana 64); Archer (Stewart 62), Brereton Diaz (Fraser 63).

Subs not used: McCarthy, Taylor, Aribo, Armstrong.

Booked: Cornet.

Sent off: Stephens.