No blessing from Saints

LONDON • When Southampton last met Manchester United in February, their humiliating 9-0 defeat ranked as the joint-heaviest loss in English Premier League history.

But there was never any chance of a repeat yesterday as the Saints competed well to earn a 1-1 draw at St Mary's.

While the visitors did equal Arsenal's English top-flight record of 27 straight away league games without defeat (April 2003-September 2004), the Red Devils left the south coast of England frustrated.

Southampton took a controversial lead in the 30th minute. Bruno Fernandes felt he was fouled when a barge from Jack Stephens left the United midfielder in a heap but referee Craig Pawson waved play on.

Moussa Djenepo and Adam Armstrong worked the ball to Che Adams on the edge of the area and his shot deflected off Fred's out-stretched boot as it flashed past goalkeeper David de Gea for an own goal.

Last season, United recovered 15 points when losing at half-time, coming from behind to win on five occasions.

They staged another second half fightback as Mason Greenwood equalised in the 55th minute, firing under home 'keeper Alex McCarthy from 12 yards after Paul Pogba poked the ball into his path.

It was the 19-year-old's 19th Premier League career goal - only Michael Owen (40), Robbie Fowler (35) and Wayne Rooney (30) have scored more as teenagers in the competition's history.

Pogba also became the first player in Premier League history to register five assists in the first two matches of a season - breaking a tie between Jeremy Goss (1992-93), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (2017-18) and Harry Kane (2020-21).

However, United failed to build on the euphoria from last weekend's 5-1 home demolition of Leeds and were lucky not to lose to Ralph Hasenhuttl's organised and dynamic side.

Jadon Sancho came off the bench for his second appearance for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men but the £73 million (S$135.5 million) forward could not make an impact on the game. Pogba shot just wide and Alex McCarthy saved Fernandes' header, but it was Southampton who should have won it when Armstrong sent a close-range effort too close to de Gea.

Southampton 1 Man United 1

Wolves 0 Tottenham 1

Arsenal v Chelsea

Late kick-off

West Ham v Leicester

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P W D L F A Pts

1 Liverpool 2 2 0 0 5 0 6

2 Brighton 2 2 0 0 4 1 6

3 Tottenham 2 2 0 0 2 0 6

4 Man United 2 1 1 0 6 2 4

5 Everton 2 1 1 0 5 3 4

6 Brentford 2 1 1 0 2 0 4

7 Man City 2 1 0 1 5 1 3

8 Chelsea 1 1 0 0 3 0 3

9 West Ham 1 1 0 0 4 2 3

10 Aston Villa 2 1 0 1 4 3 3

11 Leicester 1 1 0 0 1 0 3

12 Watford 2 1 0 1 3 4 3

13 Southampton 2 0 1 1 2 4 1

14 Palace 2 0 1 1 0 3 1

15 Leeds 2 0 1 1 3 7 1

16 Arsenal 1 0 0 1 0 2 0

17 Wolves 2 0 0 2 0 2 0

18 Burnley 2 0 0 2 1 4 0

19 Newcastle 2 0 0 2 2 6 0

20 Norwich 2 0 0 2 0 8 0

Both sides were disappointed with the draw, with Greenwood saying: "It was a difficult game, Southampton defended well but in my eyes, we dropped two points.

"When we got the equaliser we should have gone for the throats, the time went away and we did not get the winner towards the end."

On matching Arsenal's record, he added: "We've done well. It's hard coming away from home to play at these away grounds and with the fans back today, it makes a difference but hopefully, we can go onto the next game and win."

Southampton have now dropped 42 points from winning positions in Premier League games against Manchester United - only Tottenham against Arsenal (45) have dropped more in a single fixture in Premier League history.

But right-back Valentino Livramento, who left Chelsea in the summer for £5 million in search of game time after graduating from their academy, felt that with a bit more luck, they could have come away with a shock result.

"It's a pleasure to play in front of these fans for the first time. When you first come out and they are chanting your name, it's a special feeling," the 18-year-old said. "I feel we could have won the game, maybe could have lost the game, but a draw is a fair result."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS