United Hangs On For Win

Manchester United 2 - Southampton 1
Scorers
Manchester United: Rooney (8, 27)
Southampton: Rodriguez (2)

Team: De Gea, Vidic, Smalling (Rio 63), Jones, Evra, Carrick, Anderson (Rafael 68), Kagawa (Nani 73), Welbeck, Rooney, Van Persie

Been a busy weekend, wildly celebrating a by-election result, and as a result really didn't catch the Fulham game. Did catch the second half of it and thought we were really really good, bar one defensive lapse.

Any thoughts of the same ease of victory today against a relegation-threatened Soton were quickly dismissed as early as the second minute of the game. In two moments of sheer madness, the first from Carrick's utterly unbelievable give-away and the second from De Gea's subsequent insanity, allowed Rodriguez a free run at goal and he only had the open goal to pass the ball into.

Thankfully by now we would have already gotten used to playing from behind and it was par for the course. We responded positively and surged forward, spending much of the first half camped inside the Saints' half. Good play from Kagawa released Rooney and the lead only lasted slightly more than 5 minutes.

Rooney tried to return the favour moments later but Kagawa's shot only hit the upright. With the way United were playing, it was just a matter of time before we scored another and we didn't have to wait long. Van Persie's freekick was headed across the box by Evra and Rooney was left with the job of poking the ball from less than a metre out. It was just deserves for the enterprising level of football we were playing.

A hiding had looked on the cards but Southampton came out in the second half a completely changed team. The role reversal here was stunning. We couldn't get a sniff of the ball, and in the rare event that we did, we couldn't keep it for more than 2 passes the entire half.

It gotten so bad at one stage that Ferguson had to send on Rio and Rafael to complete the first choice back 4. Carrick was putrid and De Gea did nothing to improve his already shattering reputation. It was only by sheer dumb luck that Southampton were unable to profit. Yet somehow, we scrapped out a victory and could breathe slightly easier when the final whistle blew.

The level of complacency in this team is really high. We were clearly the better team in the first half, but were completely out-worked by a Saints team that were hungrier. If we bring this attitude to Craven Cottage on the weekend, Fulham, especially after the smarting they got in the FA Cup, will tear us to shreds. While on paper looks like an easy game, it smells of a potential banana skin.

Some Random Thoughts
Looks like we signed Zaha from Palace. Frankly, I'm not a huge fan. At 20, he's young but not exactly a spring chicken either. By 20, you would expect him to be more polished, but he's still very raw. From the few clips I've seen of him, it doesn't excite me. Let's just say, it has alot of Ashley Young written all over him. Not to say it's bad, just not terribly exciting either.

Best wishes to Fletcher. I know it's been some time ago since he's had his operation, but better late than never. Hopefully he can resume his career at some point.

I'm sure there are a couple of things I left out. I'll get back to them at a later stage if my memory doesn't fail me then.