After a cagey first half-hour of action at St. Mary’s, Manchester United are now comfortably on course to claiming a much-needed three points.
It certainly took some time to grow into the game, though, as Southampton looked well up for the clash as they search for their first points since returning to the top flight this season.
Roughly 20 minutes into the match, Kyle Walker-Peters was able to brush off United’s midfield and force his way into the Red Devils’ area, coming dangerously close to opening the scoring if it wasn’t for a substandard final ball.
After the Reds recovered from the phase of play, Erik ten Hag reportedly leapt out of his seat in the dugout to collar both Kobbie Mainoo and Christian Eriksen, who were initially struggling to get to grips with how the hosts had set up.
Ten Hag barked orders at struggling duo
Joe Cole relayed on TNT Sports’ commentary from pitchside: “He’s bounced straight up, and he’s got hold of Eriksen and Mainoo. It looked like he was saying, ‘Get a bit tighter together’, you know, because I think there’s still a bit of space in between them that Southampton are capitalising in midfield.”
