Romelu Lukaku secured Manchester United a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Southampton as Jose Mourinho’s men managed to batten down the hatches after half-time.
Seven months on from edging an entertaining EFL Cup final against Saints, United arrived at St Mary’s looking to maintain their fine start to the campaign against a team struggling for coherence and goals on home turf.
United were made to sweat as Mauricio Pellegrino’s men launched wave after wave of attacks in the second period but Lukaku’s first-half goal was enough to secure a win that takes them to a club record-equalling 16 points at this stage of a Premier League season.
What they said
Southampton boss Mauricio Pellegrino: “You have to score goals. I don’t like to talk about good luck or bad luck because we have to score goals and we couldn’t. But, at the same time, we played a good game. In general we controlled the game against United, a team who are really difficult to control.” Man Utd boss Jose Mourinho (on dismissal): “I don’t know. Craig [Pawson] told me to leave and I left. Did I ask for an explanation? No. He told me to leave and I left. “(I collided) with the fourth official (Mike Jones). We are better this season than last. It’s just a start. I really think that six teams are going to fight for the title.”
Tweet of the match
Star man – Romelu Lukaku
The striker secured all three points by scoring the game’s only goal and, on an afternoon when United struggled to convince, was a consistent and effective focal point in the final third. In the same way he contributed so much on the rare occasions his team threatened, he occupied Southampton’s defence as they grew in confidence in pursuit of an equalising goal.
In with the crowd
Lukaku may have become the latest to discourage United’s supporters from using the controversial chant anti-discrimination group Kick It Out have described as “offensive and discriminatory” but it has not stopped them doing so. The lyrics used reference the size of the 24-year-old’s penis and were sung again after his first-half finish gave United the lead.
Data point
Mauricio Pellegrino
This was Southampton’s 11th league defeat of 2017, which equals their total throughout 2016 at a time when they are scheduled to play a further 15 fixtures. There is perhaps no finer demonstration of their decline under previous manager Claude Puel, which his successor Pellegrino is yet to arrest.
Player ratings
Southampton: Fraser Forster: 7 (out of 10), Cedric Soares: 6, Maya Yoshida: 6, Wesley Hoedt: 6, Ryan Bertrand: 6, Oriol Romeu: 6, Mario Lemina: 7, Dusan Tadic: 7, Steven Davis: 6, Nathan Redmond: 5, Shane Long: 6. Substitutes: Manolo Gabbiadini (for Davis, 73mins): 5, Charlie Austin (for Long, 83mins): 5, James Ward-Prowse (for Cedric, 83mins): 5. Manchester United: David de Gea: 7, Antonio Valencia: 7, Eric Bailly: 7, Phil Jones: 7, Ashley Young: 8, Marouane Fellaini: 7, Nemanja Matic: 7, Juan Mata: 6, Henrikh Mkhitaryan: 7, Marcus Rashford: 7, Romelu Lukaku: 8. Substitutes: Ander Herrera (for Mata, 62mins): 6, Chris Smalling (for Mkhitaryan, 75mins): 5, Daley Blind (for Marcus Rashford, 90mins): 5.
Who’s up next?
Stoke v Southampton (Premier League, September 30)
CKSA Moscow v Manchester United (Champions League, September 27)
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