Manchester United suffered a tie in the 96th minute while Southampton tore a 2-2 draw in the Premier League on Monday at Old Trafford.
United came from behind 2-1 and looked ready to miss Leicester City and Chelsea in the Champions League football race before Michael Obafemi’s goal in stoppage time. Stuart Armstrong gave visitors the lead in the first half after a mistake by Paul Pogba, but United recovered with two goals in three minutes before the break with Marcus Rashford and then Anthony Martial, who both scored the 21st goals of the season .
positives
Despite a late draw, United are still unbeaten for 18 games. With Crystal Palace, West Ham and Leicester in the next three games, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will imagine his chances of finishing in the top four and securing the Champions League next season.
negative
Solskjaer will want his team to start games faster than they have recently. Bournemouth scored first at Old Trafford before conceding five and Aston Villa was the best team for the first 25 minutes at Villa Park. Here, Southampton deservedly took the lead after an impressive first 20 minutes before goals from Rashford and Martial. Another slow start would perhaps have been forgotten if the Saints hadn’t caught a late goal.
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Operator rating out of 10
7 – Solskjaer has named the same starting XI for the fifth consecutive game in a row – the first time since 1993. Solskjaer will not be happy with the way his team started the game or suffered a delay. United had to end the game with 10 men after Brandon Williams injured his head and the United boss had already used his three assigned replacement slots.
Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best, players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)
GK David De Gea, 7 – Playing for United for the 400th time. He made a nice parade from Nathan Redmond’s effort.
DF Aaron Wan-Bissaka, 6 – His hands were full of Redmond and he didn’t come forward as much as he would have liked.
DF Luke Shaw, 7 – His run and cross on Rashford deserved a goal but the England striker was just offside. In the second half he retired favoring his ankle.
DF Victor Lindelof, 5 – Timely interception to block Redmond’s move to Che Adams in the first half. It was the wrong part of Obafemi when he scored with a ratchet.
DF Harry Maguire, 6 – I had no idea where Armstrong was in second place when the Scottish midfielder led Southampton 1-0.
MF Nemanja Matic, 6 – He seemed to have been pushed very deep most of the night. Missed the first header to Jan Bednarek before Obafemi gets the final touch.
MF Paul Pogba, 5 – It showed a fabulous right pass for Bruno Fernandes in the first two minutes. Lost the ball in midfield when Armstrong put Southampton ahead and got stuck with half an hour left to play.
MF Bruno Fernandes, 6 – He got assistance for Martial’s goal but it was a quiet night by his high standards.
FW Mason Greenwood, 6 – He had a little bit of defense to do with Ryan Bertrand passing by him on the left of Southampton. Fortunately escape unscathed after a horror challenge from Oriol Romeu.
FW Marcus Rashford, 8 – Good conclusion in the far corner to make 1-1. The best game since returning from injury.
FW Anthony Martial, 8 – He lost a golden chance in the beginning, but then did brilliantly to set up Rashford’s equalizer and immediately scored a fantastic individual goal.
substitutes
MF Fred, 6 – He replaced Pogba and could not prevent Southampton from taking control.
DF Brandon Williams, N / R – He went on to hobbled Shaw before he had to leave the pitch with an injury.
MF Scott McTominay, N / R – I saw six minutes of action after replacing Fernandes.
FW Daniel James, N / R – It wasn’t possible to have a real impact instead of Greenwood for the final moments of the game.
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