Despite a late red card, Southampton held out for a one-all draw against a struggling Manchester United side with the pressure beginning to pile up on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Solskjaer’s men started the game as if they had a point to prove, and the pressure was on from the first whistle to the last. It only took United 10 minutes to score their opening goal; an absolute peach from Daniel James.
Scott McTominay received the ball in the centre of the park and spread the ball wide to James. Initially, there did not seem like much on. However, with some quick feet, he danced into the box and unleashed a rocket into the top right-hand corner of the net. This goal gave the licence for a celebration after his 89th-minute equaliser was cancelled out against Crystal Palace the weekend before.
Attractive attacking football was on display at St. Mary’s, but it took until the 58th minute for the next goal to be scored. Southampton were enjoying a spell of pressure and the pressure paid off. Danny Ings had a fizzing header saved by David De Gea from a James Ward-Prowse corner, which landed in the path of loanee Kevin Danso. Danso took his time and delivered the ball delicately on to the head of Jannik Vestergaard, who leapt head and shoulders above Victor Lindelof to level the scoring.
Danso undid all of his hard work in the 73rd minute and received a second yellow card for chopping McTominay in two. His inexperience showed as the 20-year-old Austrian could have costed Southampton points. Credit is due to the rest of Ralph Hasenhuttl’s squad for retaining a point after being under immense pressure from United in the final 15 minutes.
One thing that cannot be ignored is the current pressure on United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. In his last 16 games, he has won only three; a worrying stat for all involved in Manchester United. Coincidently there are parallels to Southampton’s season last year. Dominating games, having more shots and more possession, but just not hitting the back of the net.
In the post-match press conference, Solskjaer expressed that their worst performance of the year so far came at their 4-0 drubbing of Chelsea on the opening day of the season. But it’s not the performances that are wavering, just that results aren’t going their way. It can be argued that there are multiple ways to see this point of view.
One, that Solskjaer is taking a back-seat approach and not addressing the issue close enough. Or two, he just has been very unlucky in the results this season and points will eventually come. However, United are already seven points off of the top of the table, and with the quality of Manchester City and Liverpool, that looks almost impossible to catch already, after just four games.
United have had an issue with strikers over the past couple of seasons and this season seems no different. Jesse Lingard quite frankly should not be anywhere near the starting XI, never mind the England squad as he has failed, as an attacking midfielder, to score or assists in any month since December of last season. Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez have been shipped off to Inter Milan for the remainder of the season which has given reign to Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.
Confidence seems to come into its own and it is evident to see that there is a lack of confidence surrounding the squad. On the contrary, they have been playing good attacking football, it is just the final product which has been lacking. If Solskjaer needs to work on anything in the training ground, forget the finishing, if he can instil confidence into this United team, results will come their way.
Manchester United were not the only team with underperforming strikers playing at St. Mary’s this weekend as both Che Adams and Danny Ings failed to get on the scoresheet. Danny Ings has registered one goal in the Premier League this season, which came from a goalkeeping howler against Liverpool. The pair cost the Saints £40m, and for a club with tight ownership, it’s a lot of money.
However, the pair can receive the benefit of the doubt as Adams is still young, and adjusting to the pace and physicality of the Premier League, and Ings is finding his feet after being injured for such a long period of time. One player that Southampton are going to miss is Nathan Redmond. The English winger came into his own in the latter half of last season and has scored and assisted in his last two appearances for the Saints.
However, he picked up an ankle injury which could keep him out for up to three weeks. With every cloud there is a silver lining. With Redmond’s absence, Sofian Boufal has been given a chance to prove himself. With the right guidance, the winger could be a real asset for the Saints.
Considering their lack of creativity from the front two, the Saints have really started to come into their own. Two wins and a draw in their last three games suggest that their start of the season blip was in fact just a blip. One of the major visible differences is the attitude of the players. Last season 1-0 down at home to United would have been enough for the heads to drop and nothing to be received from the game.
Hasenhuttl has got the team fighting for every single point and it’s excellent to see considering their recent fall from grace. Hasenhuttl can be given huge credit for this for many reasons: Instilling this attitude in the team, playing attacking football in his preferred 4-2-2-2 formation and the removal of dead weight from the side. These are very encouraging scenes from St Mary’s which can only continue to get better for the south coast side.
