Southampton vs Manchester United
Match pulse
Who won: Man United 3-2
Manchester United beat Southampton 3-2 on Sunday, September 2, 2012 at St. Mary's Stadium. Goals for Southampton: Rickie Lambert (16') and Morgan Schneiderlin (55'). Goals for Man United: Robin van Persie (23', 87', 90'+2').
Play by play
- 94'
It's all over: a terrific match ends in a win for United thanks to Van Persie and his hat-trick. Southampton, playing like this, will get something soon
- 94'
But you have to hand it to United: they do this sort of thing again and again and again. They try to break with Hernandez, but he's offside. Seconds to go now
- 93'
This is harsh on Southampton: three defeats from three is not what they deserve after the quality of their performances against City and then United
- 92'
<img src="http://soccernet-assets.espn.go.com/design05/gp10/i/goal.gif"> <b>GOAL</b> <b>And United have won it</b> - Van Persie flicks in a header. He has his hat-trick, Fergie has a victory in his landmark game
- 91'
The ball will be whipped in yet again: thousands of United crosses, it seems, in the last few minutes
- 90'
Four minutes of stoppage time, which United mark by winning a corner. Fonte clears. This is tense
- 89'
<img src="http://soccernet-assets.espn.go.com/design05/gp10/i/subs.gif"> Hernandez, by the way, came on for Welbeck (72 minutes)
- 89'
Fox plays it deep, Ward-Prowse has a shot blocked. Then Fox blazes over
- 88'
Hooiveld gets there, but Vidic just does enough to stop him getting a clean header. It's another corner
- 87'
Back come Saints, and they win a corner. Can they find a late goal of their own? Plenty forward...
- 86'
<img src="http://soccernet-assets.espn.go.com/design05/gp10/i/goal.gif"> <b>GOAL</b> And the pressure tells: Hernandez crosses, Ferdinand heads against the post and Van Persie atones for his penalty miss by poking in the leveller. It's all on again
- 85'
But the pressure is growing. Everyone's up in the Southampton area most of the time
- 84'
Again, Southampton are there. Again, Scholes steps in. Again, United cross, but substitute Hernandez can't get there
- 83'
Ward-Prowse typifies the Southampton attitude, first to a loose ball in midfield, but Scholes picks up the pieces and looks to go long towards Evra
- 83'
Hooiveld does well to see off Hernandez as the United man looks to raid down the right
- 82'
Fergie's anxious on the touchline: this isn't the way his 1,000th league game in charge of United was supposed to go
- 81'
And that'll be their throw, too. Another booming chorus of 'When the Saints Go Marching In' from a home crowd who, unsurprisingly, have loved pretty much every second of this
- 80'
And another Southampton clearance. They're holding firm, and win a free-kick inside their own half for a foul by Rafael
- 79'
Another raid, another United corner
- 78'
United are getting more and more crosses in - Saints need to find a spell of possession to ease the pressure
- 77'
<img src="http://soccernet-assets.espn.go.com/design05/gp10/i/subs.gif"> Jay Rodriguez is on for the excellent, excellent, Adam Lallana
- 76'
Can they hold their nerve? Van Persie is in, but Hooiveld gets there and Saints whack it away. If they keep doing that, it'll keep coming back at them
- 75'
United upping the tempo. Nani tries to find a ball in. Southampton clear, but then give it away
- 74'
<img src="http://soccernet-assets.espn.go.com/design05/gp10/i/subs.gif">Puncheon off, Emmanuel Mayuka on. It's his debut. What an occasion to make it on. Goal hero Lambert, this year's Grant Holt, is off and Guly Do Prado on
- 73'
Carrick crosses, but that's beyond everyone

