SOUTHAMPTON 0, MANCHESTER UNITED 1
Romelu Lukaku’s 20th minute goal was enough to secure victory for Manchester United at Southampton but the Reds had to fight hard to prevent a Saints fightback in the second half as their good first half performance gave way to a tense second period that fell below their usual high standards.
Lukaku was at hand to poke home the rebound after Southampton ‘keeper Fraser Forster had parried Ashley Young’s cross for his 12th goal in 10 games for club and county but United had to weather a second half blitz from the home side with Marouane Fellaini clearing off Oriol Romeu’s header off the line.
After a pragmatic win, then, United stayed second and racked up another clean sheet – their fifth in six Premier League games.
Referring to Manchester City’s 5-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace today, Mourinho admitted that while City’s scoreline was preferable, both wins were worth the same three points and hinted that United seemed jaded despite the midweek rest that most of the players had enjoyed.
He said: “It’s better to win 5-0 than 1-0 but it’s not always possible. We had opportunities to score the second goal and then the game is different but today this was not my feeling. The game was difficult today, credit to Southampton and [Mauricio] Pellegrino. The three points were important.”
The Reds had to repel a second half siege from Southampton who controlled much of the possession and had more shots on goal than United as they sought a way back into the game.
Rather than try to catch the Saints on the break, United Jose Mourinho opted instead to bring on Chris Smalling as a fifth defender with over 15 minutes to go to protect United’s narrow lead.
Such was the intensity of the occasion that Mourinho was sent to the stands before the end of the game by referee Craig Pawson with the suggestion being that the Portuguese had left his technical area to venture on to the pitch – a very marginal decision.
“Craig told me to leave and I left.” explained Mourinho, claiming to be mystified by the incident, adding that he didn’t think he had stood on the pitch but admitted that he had collided with the fourth official.
Mourinho expanded on his reasoning behind the second half change to bring Smalling on as a fifth defender, claiming: “We did for 20 minutes what the majority of Premier League teams are doing, playing defensive with five at the back, for twenty minutes. We had chances to kill the game, scoring the second goal, but we didn’t.
“Southampton were strong and I felt the manager was enthusiastic and exciting, risking bringing two strikers in [Manolo] Gabbiadini and [Charlie] Austin and asking them to play direct in a style thats not normally their style.
“I made the decision to bring in Smalling and the team was solid, good solidarity and organisation and spirit.”
Mourinho also added that the weather might have been a factor in United’s lethargic performance saying: “I think they were really tired – nine of them didn’t play midweek. It wasn’t fatigue. The weather was beautiful, even if it rained in Manchester we don’t get this weather. Last time we had this weather was in Macedonia and Los Angeles.
“I felt some players were not sharp. They had great spirit and were always trying but they didn’t have sharpness.
“When the opponent comes at you with everything let’s do it for 10-15 minutes and we were solid.”
Manchester United issue statement on supporter’s chant
Manchester United tonight issued a statement reiterating requests from the club and Lukaku himself for supporters to refrain from singing a particular song which appeared to have been disregarded by a section of travelling supporters who also appeared to claim: “We’ll sing what we want” during the game.
The club is now in discussion with police and has asked for CCTV footage from Southampton in a bid to identify people who “disrespected” Lukaku’s wishes for the chants to end.
United boss Mourinho had claimed not to hear the chants, instead choosing to praise the travelling fans for supporting the team, adding: “I don’t understand what the fans sing, or the music, the only music I understand is where the fans tell Mourinho to go to some place.”
Mourinho added: “I want to say the fans were amazing, the support was amazing, the players felt that support. It’s much more important when you are defending, fighting, and exhausted.”