Southampton vs Man United

Manchester United enjoy back-to-back wins for first time under Erik ten Hag thanks to Bruno Fernandes' second-half strike at St Mary's.

Continued his aggressive approach and looks set for a run in the team after being named man of the match 8 He’s very good at holding the ball up and getting on the end of crosses. Adam Armstrong: A number of eye-catching dribbles to move away from pressure and carry ball forward. He’s a top player but they still need more. Casemiro is not going to change that fact. You get to 37 years of age, you’re not going to go sprinting away from people. Che Adams: Given a start after his match-winning double from the bench against Leicester. Won a free-kick after a cheeky nutmeg on McTominay and showed some nice turns away from pressure 7 James Ward-Prowse: Like watching a game of chess as he battled the similarly silky Eriksen. The ploy worked to perfection in the 55th minute. Tyrell Malacia: Tenacious presence at left-back despite majority of Southampton coming down his side. Despite the breakthrough, Southampton did not give in.

Bruno Fernandes proved to be Manchester United's match winner, scoring the only goal of the game in the victory against Southampton on Saturday.

[Harry Maguire](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/157073/Harry-Maguire) watched the entirety of this game from the bench as [Raphael Varane](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/153053/Raphaël-Varane) and [Lisandro Martinez](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/233937/Lisandro-Martínez) showed more encouraging signs of forging an effective centre-back partnership together. [Liverpool](/soccer/team?id=364), given United had more of the ball (51% against [Southampton](/soccer/team?id=376) compared with 30% vs. [Napoli](/soccer/team?id=114) the latest club to hold talks. Man United win consecutive games for the first time since February (vs. With [Chelsea](/soccer/team?id=363) closing in on the big-money signing of [Wesley Fofana](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/270190/Wesley-Fofana), could Leicester offer Maguire an escape route back to his former club? [Upcoming fixtures](www.espn.com/soccer/fixtures?league=eng.1) Ended with just 28 touches -- the fewest of any player to last 90 minutes -- and one shot. These remain formative days in the Ten Hag era, but another victory will give him more momentum to build on with [Leicester City](/soccer/team?id=375) up next on Thursday. Saturday's win was not emphatic, but United looked more organised and compact than they have done in many matches during that run, keeping a clean sheet on the road for the first time in any competition since December 2021 (against Norwich). [Best/worst performers](#bestworst) [Highlights and notable moments](#highlights) [Premier League table](www.espn.com/soccer/league/_/name/eng.1)

Manchester United beat Southampton at St Mary's thanks to a wonderful team move finished off by Bruno Fernandes, as they finally won on the road.

United will be buoyed by their big win against Liverpool but Erik ten Hag knows they must be consistent and back up their derby win with victories against Southampton and Leicester before they face Arsenal on Sept. Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to start on the bench once again with Anthony Martial probably starting up front with Marcus Rashford on the left and Jadon Sancho on the right. Defensively the duo of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez were also sublime, while left back Tyrell Malacia was also dominant on his first Premier League start. United upped the tempo at the start of the second half and a fine team move down the right with slick passing found one of Bruno Fernandes’ marauding runs as he finished off a lovely cross. United and Southampton both played long in the first half as they were direct on the bobbly pitch at St Mary’s. Trailing 2-0 at home against Leeds in week 2, they fought back to grab a point and they fought back from a goal down to win at Leicester. 30 and Manchester United travel to Leicester City on Thursday, Sept. Saints pressed high after going behind and United sat in deep to show off their newfound spirit and resilience and they held on. Now all they need to do is find a talented young striker to give them more of a cutting edge in the final third. They played with no fear and early in the season the talent level of this Southampton side looks higher than last season. Somehow VAR looked at the incident but nothing was given and United can feel very lucky they didn’t concede a penalty kick. Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia and Raphael Varane were all solid and David de Gea came up with a big save when he was needed.