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47 min: Malacia has been a little sloppy on a couple of occasions this afternoon, and here he carelessly gifts Elyounoussi possession, just to the right of the United D. Elyounoussi scoops a harmless ball forward into De Gea’s arms.
United get the ball rolling again. No changes. On BT Sport, Paul Scholes thinks this game is tailor-made for Ronaldo, on account of his being not half bad at getting on the end of a cross.
Half-time reading.
HALF TIME: Southampton 0-0 Manchester UnitedNo added time. It’s been kind of low key, and yet both sides could easily have scored one or two. Everyone will fancy their chances in the second half.
45 min: Fernandes blooters the ball into the wall. Uncharacteristically witless. Eriksen gets a go next time, I’ll be bound.
Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes shoots from a free-kick but can only fire the ball into the wall. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters44 min: Aribo sticks out a leg in the hope of poking the ball away from McTominay, who needs no further invitation to go down. A daft challenge, and a free kick in a very dangerous position, just to the right of the Saints D. Fernandes’ eyes light up.
42 min: United pump long down the left. Rashford battles for the ball, but Kotchap is determined to usher the ball out of play for a goal kick, and he’s strong enough to get the job done without fear or fuss. Kotchap is young, and no doubt will make mistakes, but he looks a player.
41 min: A free kick for Saints out on the left. Ward-Prowse launches it into a crowded box. Martinez senses the danger and heads clear.
39 min: In a tight spot in the United box, Adams spins away from Martinez. He’s got a bit of space on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. But he’s falling backwards and can’t connect properly. His shot-cum-cross dribbles apologetically across the face of the six-yard box, and it’s an easy claim for De Gea. Saints quickly come again, though, and Adams has a better lash from the edge of the box. Over the bar it sails.
37 min: Eriksen, sashaying down the left, sends a dangerous low ball across the face of the Saints goal. Fernandes lunges, six yards out, but can’t connect. Goal kick. Another close shave. Fernandes could easily have had a couple.
36 min: Ward-Prowse looks to have won a corner off Malacia down the right, but the ball spins viciously on the byline and back into De Gea’s arms. The much-missed Hampshire star Shane Warne would have been proud of that one.
34 min: Eriksen, doing his quarterbacking thing, tries to release Elanga with a low diagonal pass towards the right, but misdirects. Bazunu claims the unintended weak shot.
32 min: Armstrong works his way down the left and crosses low for Adams, who spins and shoots weakly at De Gea. After a quiet period, Saints are getting back into this.
31 min: Saints should be leading. Ward-Prowse fizzes the corner in from the right. Aribo flicks on at the near post. The ball drops to Kotchap at the far stick. Six yards out, he should slam home, but he’s falling back, and lifts miles over the bar. What a chance!
30 min: Walker-Peters is sent scampering down the right by Ward-Prowse. His viciously whipped cross nearly finds Armstrong, six yards out, but Martinez has read the danger and heads behind for a corner.
29 min: Elyounoussi loops a right-wing cross towards Adams at the far stick. Adams beats Varane to a header, which sails harmlessly over the bar and onto the top of the netting. De Gea hasn’t had much work to do.
Che Adams of Southampton heads over the bar. Photograph: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images27 min: Sancho looks to cause bother down the left but Kotchap comes across to shepherd the ball away from the Saints box, then draw a foul from his man. Assured defending by the 20-year-old German.
26 min: United are seeing more of the ball, and St Mary’s has fallen a little quiet as a result. The away support are making most of what noise there is.
Manchester United’s Diogo Dalot (left) and Southampton’s Moussa Djenepo tussle for the ball. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images24 min: That was one hell of a goalmouth scramble. Fernandes should have scored twice, Elanga once. United come forward again in the hope of righting those wrongs, Eriksen winning a corner on the left. But Salisu knocks it clear.
22 min: A Saints corner on the right. Some head tennis. United still not looking totally sure of themselves at the back. Salisu releases the pressure by floating a right-wing cross out for a goal kick.
20 min: The resulting corner leads to a bit of pinball, with Martinez in the thick of it, before Bazunu claims.
19 min: How on earth have Manchester United not scored here? Dalot crosses from the right. Fernandes heads goalwards from six yards. Walker-Peters blocks. The ball squirts to Elanga, whose close-range piledriver from the right is sensationally parried by Bazunu. The ball breaks back to Fernandes, who tries to force home … only for Walker-Peters to make another brave block, right in the mush! Eriksen has one last bash, but a combination of Kotchap and Bazunu denies him. Just a corner! Wow. What staunch defence by the Saints!
Manchester United’s Anthony Elanga shot is saved by Southampton’s keeper Gavin Bazunu. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters17 min: Eriksen rakes a diagonal pass towards Elanga on the right. Elanga can’t get past Djenepo, and his attempt to locate Sancho on the opposite flank comes to nought.
15 min: Ward-Prowse works the ball well down the right before swinging in a dangerous cross. Varane anticipates well and heads clear under pressure from Adams and Armstrong.
13 min: This game has a nice, open, end-to-end feel to it. Elyounoussi has a shot blocked. Dalot enters the Saints box from the right but can’t find anyone with his cross. Armstrong heads weakly at De Gea. The sun shines brightly.
11 min: St Mary’s rises to remember the late David Armstrong with the warmest of ovations.
A tribute to former Southampton player David Armstrong is seen on the big screen. Photograph: Steve Bardens/Getty Images9 min: Malacia, attempting to pass out from the back, gifts the ball to Aribo on the right-hand corner of the United box. Aribo tries to make space for a shot, but Varane blocks his effort, which rebounds back off the Saints man and out for a goal kick.
7 min: Fernandes spots Bazunu miles off his line and attempts to Beckham one in from the centre circle. He doesn’t catch it properly and it’s a calm claim for the keeper.
6 min: Armstrong spins away from Malacia magnificently, but then ships possession with absurd ease. United counter, Ferdinand hoping to find Elanga in acres on the left. Kotchap puts an end to those notions with a well-read interception.
5 min: United look in the mood to go long as well. No wonder, after the success they enjoyed against Liverpool. Varane sends a booming pass down the inside-right channel. Sancho can’t get there ahead of Bazunu, who races out of his area to head clear.
3 min: United fling a few men upfield. Eriksen slips Dalot into space on the wing, but the full back can’t beat the first man with his cross. “Both teams do things with style – winning or losing,” writes Yash Gupta. “On that note here’s to a 3-3 draw with hideous defending all over the shop from both teams.”
2 min: Saints win a throw deep in United territory down the right. Salisu launches it long. McTominay half clears, then Aribo floats a cross that De Gea claims with ease.
Saints get the ball rolling and immediately pump it long down the inside-right channel. Events at Brentford a fortnight ago have been noted.
The teams are out! Saints do their best to make Erik ten Hag feel at home by cosplaying as Ajax. One big thick red stripe down the middle, a bizarro take on the Kevin Keegan years. United wear their third-choice Stabilo Boss lime green. We’ll be off in a minute.
The greatest goal ever scored in the English top flight. Rest well, David Armstrong.In lieu of more players following Casemiro through the Old Trafford in-door …
Ralph Hasenhuttl talks to BT. “It is always important at the beginning of the season to get a good result as soon as possible. But we know how long the road ahead is, and we have to keep on going. Our defence in the last game was very young, but they had a very good game.”
In lieu of a matchday programme to flick through …
Erik ten Hag explains his team selection to BT Sport, and it won’t be music to Cristiano Ronaldo’s ears. “We have a squad that is quite competitive, so it is always a difficult decision, but we had a good performance on Monday, so you stick to it. We have to give Casemiro the time to adapt to England and Manchester United. As a person, you have considerations, but as a manager you have to make decisions. The team is always most important. You make a decision to advantage the team, you have to be clear, you have to be honest. We had to deal with mentality. We have the players to manage the game. In Elanga, Rashford and Sancho, you have a lot of speed up front. We have to have a clever strategy. This will be more like the Brentford game.”
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag waxes lyrical to the BT Sport crew. Photograph: Ash Donelon/Manchester United/Getty ImagesBoth managers have hit upon a winning formula, and when it ain’t broke … Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl makes just one change to his starting XI. Che Adams, who came on and turned the match at Leicester, replaces Sekou Mara. Romain Perraud starts on the bench after returning from a groin injury. Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag names the same side that put Liverpool to the sword. Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire remain benched, alongside new boy Casemiro. Anthony Martial is injured.
The teamsSouthampton: Bazunu, Walker-Peters, Kotchap, Salisu, Djenepo, Ward-Prowse, Lavia, Aribo, Elyounoussi, Adam Armstrong, Adams.
Subs: McCarthy, Lyanco, Romeu, Perraud, Stuart Armstrong, Mara, Diallo, Bednarek, Valery.
Manchester United: de Gea, Dalot, Varane, Martinez, Malacia, McTominay, Eriksen, Sancho, Bruno Fernandes, Elanga, Rashford.
Subs: Casemiro, Maguire, Ronaldo, Fred, Heaton, Shaw, Wan-Bissaka, van de Beek, Garnacho.
Referee: Andrew Madley (West Yorkshire).
PreambleManchester United are back, baby! Monday night’s comprehensive victory at Old Trafford over Liverpool, 2-1 seriously flattering the visitors, felt epochal. The Erik ten Hag era starts now. But they could do with consecutive wins, something they haven’t achieved in the Premier League since February. They’re also currently on a run of seven straight defeats away from home, their worst sequence on their travels since 1936. How happy they’ll be to rock up at St Mary’s, where they haven’t lost since James Beattie scored a late winner in 2003!
However, Southampton are also back, baby! Ralph Hasenhuttl’s coat appeared to be hanging from an extremely shoogly peg a fortnight ago, when they followed up their opening-day 4-1 thrashing at Spurs by going two down at home to Leeds. But Saints rallied to salvage a 2-2 draw, then came back from behind to win impressively at Leicester last week. Having since won 3-0 at Cambridge in the League Cup, confidence is rising and the heat on Hasenhuttl is low.
Both fixtures between these teams ended in a 1-1 draw last season. Before that … but let’s not bring up that 9-0 again. Can United make it two wins in a row for the first time in seven months? Or will Saints triumph over the club they beat in the 1976 FA Cup final for the first time since January 2016, when Charlie Austin shocked Old Trafford? We’ll find out soon enough. Kick off is at 12.30pm. It’s on!