Erik ten Hag's biggest Man Utd fear destroyed in two minutes at Southampton (original) (raw)

SOUTHAMPTON 0-3 MANCHESTER UNITED: United picked up their first away victory of the season at St Mary's courtesy of goals from Matthijs de Ligt, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho eased the pressure on Erik ten Hag

Man Utd ran out 3-0 winners at Southampton

Erik ten Hag was surely fearing the boot when referee Stuart Attwell pointed to the spot.

But the trajectory of Manchester United's ill-fated campaign appeared to change within the space of just two minutes as his side basked in the glorious Southampton sunshine to claim their first away victory of the season.

Andre Onana kept out Cameron Archer's penalty and in the blink of an eye, United were ahead through Matthijs de Ligt's bullish header. Marcus Rashford was back amongst the goals and finally vindicated Ten Hag's unquestionable loyalty while Alejandro Garnacho also issued the perfect response after he was surprisingly dropped.

And there was even time for new signing Manuel Ugarte to make a late impression from the bench on an afternoon that was littered with United positives. They undeniably rode their luck for 30 minutes but now look to have turned the corner.

For 10-man Southampton, you begin to wonder if that day will ever come. There remains something admirable about Russell Martin's never-ending pursuit of flawless, free-flowing football but his wounded camp are unfortunately, quickly harvesting a reputation as the top-flight's whipping boys.

Something has to give and unfortunately, if Martin fails to stem the flow of the bleeding - he is susceptible to the sack.

Those that were previously unaware of 18-year-old Tyler Dibling's remarkable potential have certainly now sat up and taken note. Because the stylish drop of the shoulder that bamboozled Diogo Dalot and the slick, daring dribbling that followed was so immaculate - it was hard to comprehend that this was the work of a teenager making his first Premier League start.

Matthijs de Ligt celebrates his first Man United goal (

Image:

Getty Images)

However, no top-flight player had mustered more shots (three) than Dibling, who first went viral in 2022 following an incredible long-range youth team hat-trick at Newcastle, directly after take-ons in the opening three matches of the season. And after Aaron Ramsdale was forced into the first notable save of the game, diving across the face of his goal to keep out a low, prodded close-range effort from Joshua Zirkzee, Southampton's fresh-faced prodigy decided to crank things up a notch.

He collected the ball on the far touchline and drove at the hapless Dalot, towards the byline. The troubled Portuguese full-back, who had his work cut out defensively all half, bit and brought Dibling to ground.

Archer snatched the ball and following a brief VAR-enforced delay, his tame spot-kick was parried away by Onana and the United No.1 was also equal to the weak, headed rebound that gratefully landed between his gloves.

Two minutes later and totally against the run of play, United were ahead. Christian Eriksen's short corner was sent deep towards the back stick by Bruno Fernandes and buried by the head of De Ligt.

Erik ten Hag eased the pressure on his shoulders with victory (

Image:

Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)

Southampton were mentally shot and had lost all composure. Moments later, Rashford steered home an exquisite second from range - a reward for his relentless perseverance - before Ramsdale displayed sublime reflexes to deny De Ligt a double on the stroke of half-time.

United's £42.9million centre-back's lack of speed and agility had initially looked problematic in the opening exchanges of this match as Southampton pressed for the opener but a credible goal-line clearance to deny Saints full-back Yukinari Sugawara helped De Ligt turn the screw.

Strangely, the brilliance of Dibling - whose withdrawal on 63 minutes prompted boos from around St Mary's - appeared to bring the best from both of United's wingers, Rashford and Amad, who were persistent thorns in Southampton's fragmented backline. The former went close again when he danced inside and let fly from 25-yards but England team-mate Ramsdale was equal to his dipping strike which was pushed over the bar acrobatically.

Southampton's disastrous start to the campaign plunged to new depths of despair on 79 minutes when Jack Stephens was given his marching orders for a horror lunge on substitute Garnacho, who later compounded the opposition's misery in stoppage time when he fired home a deserved third.

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