JOSE MOURINHO WAS sent off in the dying stages of a narrow 1-0 win for Manchester United at St. Mary’s on Saturday, with Romelu Lukaku’s sixth Premier League goal the difference in a tight game which extends their unbeaten start to the season.
United remain level on points with rivals Manchester City at the head of the table with five wins in six games, conceding just two goals and keeping four clean sheets in the process.
Fraiser Forrester made a number of excellent saves throughout, however his clean sheet was spoiled after 20 minutes when Lukaku struck from close range.
Ashley Young provided a dangerous cross into the box which the Belgian headed on target — the effort initially saved superbly by the Southampton goalkeeper from point blank range.
However a second effort from no less than two yards out from goal was prodded home by the forward to give United the lead following a promising start from the hosts.
Shane Long had his work cut out for him in the first half as an isolated lone striker, however it was the second-half introductions of Manolo Gabbiadini and Charlie Austin which almost brought a late, dramatic and at times deserved equaliser.
Dušan Tadić came close on numerous occasions, however following the introduction of Chris Smalling and the deployment of a back five United held on to record a win which stands in pale comparison to more resolute victories achieved earlier in the campaign.
Whereas United had previously recorded three of their four wins in the Premier League by a scoreline of 4-0, this time they were made to sweat and dig deep, with the cliche of ‘grinding out narrow wins’ as the hallmarks of all good champions applicable here.
However the win did not always look guartenteed. Southampton enjoyed the better opening performance before Lukaku’s goal took the wind out of their sails for a period of time.
Not to be beat down however, Mauricio Pellegrino’s side fought back to within inches, multiple times, of gracing the back of the net and earning what would have been a moral equaliser for their hard work, grit and determination.
But it was not to be as their luck ran out with the sound of the final whistle as they continued to pin United deep into their own final third — a second defeat of a campaign which has seen Southampton register just four goals so far this season, as the Saints drop to 11th in the table.
United boss Mourinho was bizarrely sent off in stoppage time for appearing to walk onto the St Mary’s pitch, with referee Craig Pawson giving the Portuguese his marching orders just moments before the final whistle sounded.
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