Man United 1 Southampton 1: Match Report
Manchester United
were dramatically held to a home draw as Southampton grabbed a late
equaliser to cancel out Robin van Persie's first-half strike.
Just
one minute of normal time remained when Saints captain Adam Lallana
diverted a stabbed effort from Dejan Lovren into the net at a corner. It
was tough on the champions, who had hit the crossbar twice and had
Adnan Januzaj’s fierce shot from 25 yards well saved by Artur Boruc.
Januzaj,
the centre of attention on the day he signed a five-year United
contract, was quiet until the 18-year-old helped to set up the Reds'
goal on 26 minutes. Wayne Rooney latched onto the teenager’s immaculate
through ball, but after Saints keeper Artur Boruc blocked the shot, van
Persie was on hand, jinking to the left around the Polish international
before rolling the ball into the far corner of the net. Rooney was close
to doubling the lead within two minutes, rattling the crossbar with a
smart shot on the turn inside the area. The Saints impressed with their
passing game, and they could have scored had striker Dani Osvaldo packed
more power into his close-range shot at David De Gea.
The
woodwork denied van Persie in a lively spell just after the hour mark
when he hit the bar with a header from a corner, and seconds later Boruc
denied Januzaj the chance of another spectacular goal when he punched
away the Belgian-born youngster’s long-range shot. Van Persie was inches
away from touching in a Rooney cross on 72 minutes, and substitute
Danny Welbeck could have put Rooney in for a chance but for a
superbly-timed tackle from Morgan Schneiderlin. Mauricio Pochettino’s
visitors looked increasingly threatening and De Gea had saves to make
before Lallana struck. Five minutes of injury time arrived but United could not find another breakthrough in reply.
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