Manchester United fans had looked forward to a good response from their club, who drop from first to second on the log last week after dropping four vital points in a matter of days, no thanks to a mid-week defeat to battling Sheffield and last weekend’s disappointing draw against Arsenal. Still, no one had envisaged that the response would be as massive as it turned out to be.
Ole Gunnar’s men held nothing back against 9-man Southampton on Tuesday as they ran rampant, scoring nine goals and equalling their biggest ever Premier League win.
The Saints started on the wrong foot as they were reduced to 10 men barely two minutes into the game after Alexandre Jankewitz got sent off for a reckless tackle on Scott McTominay and the Red Devils made sure to capitalize on their one-person advantage, putting four goals past the visitors in the first half, thanks to goals from Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Marcus Rashford, Edinson Cavani and an own goal from Jan Bednarek.
After a slightly slow start to the second half, United went haywire, scoring five goals in the final 21 minutes.
Anthony Martial came off the bench to end an eight-match goal with two goals, Scott McTominay fired home an absolute screamer.
Southampton was thoroughly unfortunate as their only goal was overturned after VAR check, which confirmed that Che Adams, the fall scorer was offside in the 55th minute.
And things went from very bad to too worse for the saints as Bednarek also got sent off, reducing them to 9 men following a foul on Martial, leading to a Penalty which Bruno Fernandes made no mistakes from the spot and just at the brink of stoppage time, Dan James wrapped things with a cheeky tap in.
It is only the third time a team has lost 9-0 in the Premier League, with United also beating Ipswich Town by that margin in 1995.
Meanwhile, Southampton has lost 9-0 for the second time in two seasons after suffering a similar defeat against Leicester City in October 2019.
Manchester United is now leveled on points with city rivals, Manchester City. They play Burnley on Wednesday and four points ahead of third-place Liverpool as the title race continues to get heated.
Ole Gunnar’s men will take on Ancelloti’s Everton on Saturday, while Southampton travels to Newcastle on the same day for their next task.
