Brave Southampton Beaten By Late Manchester United Winner

MANCHESTER, United Kingdom-  Romelu Lukaku struck a late winner as two memorable Southampton goals and a penalty save were not enough to earn a deserved point at Old Trafford.

Yan Valery opened his account in style with a powerful 25-yard shot to silence the majority of the 74,000-plus crowd and give Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side the lead with his first senior goal in the 26th minute.

It was an advantage Saints held until half time, but two quick goals from Andreas Pereira and Lukaku turned the tide in favour of the hosts soon after the interval.

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Saints battled back to draw level through James Ward-Prowse’s fifth goal in nine games – a stunning free-kick 15 minutes from time that left his team on the brink of a significant away point.

But it was to be United, and Lukaku in particular, who snatched victory in the 89th minute with another well-taken goal, before Angus Gunn kept out Paul Pogba’s penalty in stoppage time.

Hasenhüttl kept faith with the same starting line-up victorious over Fulham at St Mary’s in midweek, with Gunn continuing in goal and Charlie Austin leading the line, hoping to repeat his debut heroics on the same ground three years ago.

United had won 12 of 15 games under interim boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and that confidence was clear from the off.

The returning Marcus Rashford nutmegged Jannik Vestergaard but could not find strike partner Lukaku with his cross, before Gunn twice denied the Belgian inside the opening five minutes.

It was a busy opening for the recently turned 23-year-old, formerly of neighbours Manchester City, who was playing on the biggest stage of his career.

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First, he was alert to Lukaku’s driven shot down to his left, expertly tipping the ball around the post, before making a point-blank save to deny the same man from a corner.

Respite arrived in the shape of a lengthy spell of treatment for United youngster Scott McTominay, who was deemed fit to play on before Saints settled into the game and had a chance to go in front themselves.

James Ward-Prowse’s corner from the left was met by the head of Vestergaard, who should have hit the target from eight yards with the chance to open his Premier League account.

Then Ryan Bertrand raced beyond Nathan Redmond, receiving the ball from the winger and bursting into the box beyond Chris Smalling, who definitely pulled his shirt before Bertrand went down, but a strong penalty appeal was ignored by referee Stuart Attwell.

By the time of Valery’s extraordinary opener, Saints were probably the more likely team to score – not that it detracted from the shock factor inside Old Trafford.

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Receiving the ball from Austin with space to run into, the Frenchman advanced into shooting territory and tried his luck, 25 yards out, right of the ‘D’ outside the penalty area.

The rocket shot flew past former Saint Luke Shaw just inside David De Gea’s near post with such force that even the fingertips of the mercurial Spanish stopper were not sufficient to deviate its path.