Manchester United secured a hard-fought victory against Southampton, showcasing promising signs of improvement both offensively and defensively. Marcus Rashford returned to form with his first Premier League goal since March, while the defense appeared more organized and cohesive.
Against Southampton , Erik ten Hag's side showed the makings of an impressive collective unit. If you’d have asked an AI chatbot to prophesy events at St Mary’s on Saturday afternoon, “ Southampton dominate but United win both comfortably and uncomfortably” would have been the default answer.. They largely appeared happy to concede possession to a team who prioritise retaining it, voluntarily trapping themselves in a spin cycle between their own penalty area and the halfway line.
, ruthlessly constricted Kobbie Mainoo, while Tyler Dibling and Yukinara Sugawara left Diogo Dalot unsure which way the world was turning. The Portuguese conceded a cheap penalty to Dibling – a wonderfully direct and fearless 18-year-old making his first Premier League start – but if anything that spot-kick changed the game in United’s favour. Blame for Cameron Archer missing the first penalty he’d taken in a professional match has to fall as much on Stuart Attwell for making him wait nearly a minute to take it, and on Martin for putting someone so inexperienced under such great pressure.before half-time, both from short corners. From then until Alejandro Garnacho finished Dalot’s cutback six minutes into injury time, Very Little happened. Southampton even ceded possession, dropping below 50 per cent for the first time this season. But for United, there were two overwhelming positives at St Mary’s, a match which flirted – as United so often do – with grand embarrassment. One was Rashford’s first Premier League goal since 9 March, a low curler which appeared to remind the 26-year-old who is he and what he’s capable of. Through that goal and the ensuing hour, there was an odd sense of a man rediscovering himself and his own talents, each shot and pass and dancing flick slowly regenerating something which has occasionally felt permanently lost. Even he wasn’t sure he could still do that. United have long been the footballing home of false dawns, but this was the first sighting of confidence or joy from Rashford this season. Nurturing and protecting that is now Erik ten Hag’s primary challenge. The other is the early indication a coherent defence is forming at United, something Ten Hag has not had since he joined.Noussair Mazraoui, De Ligt, Lisandro Martinez and Dalot complement and enhance each other as a unit. While Dibling and Ben Brereton Diaz were allowed space early on, Southampton didn’t manage a shot on target in the second half. This was just the second game this quartet have started together. Every time they do so in the future will only develop and improve their relationships and United’s defence. Last season, injuries forced United to use Casemiro, Jonny Evans, Harry Maguire, Willy Kambwala and Victor Lindelof in various constantly-rotating, anxiety-inducing combinations, removing any opportunity to build functional partnerships and leading to the fifth-worst expected goals conceded figure in the league
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