Manchester United were held to a draw by Southampton at Old Trafford. The Reds had Casemiro sent off in the first half and the Brazilian will now sit out of United’s next four domestic matches. So let’s take a look at five things we learnt from this Premier League encounter.
1. New roles for Sancho and Fernandes
There was a real surprise in ten Hag’s team selection for this match. The Dutchman decided to deploy Bruno Fernandes in a deeper number eight role and Jadon Sancho in the number ten role. Completing the midfield three was Casemiro, who was in his usual holding role.
It took a while for ten Hag’s men to get going in the contest with Southampton pressing high up the pitch in the early stages. However, both Sancho and Fernandes grew into their new roles. Sancho was effective in receiving the ball just behind the Southampton midfield and driving towards the opposition goal.
The Red Devils almost took the lead midway through the first half and Sancho was heavily involved. The Englishman put Rashford one-on-one with the keeper, however United’s number ten got his first touch all wrong. Fernandes was equally as impressive in the number eight role with Southampton finding it difficult to get close to him.
Like Sancho, Fernandes was involved in United’s best chance of the first half. The Portuguese maestro played in Rashford, however the winger was unable to get the better of the keeper. Casemiro’s sending off changed the roles of Sancho and Fernandes, however it will be interesting to see if ten Hag experiments with these two in upcoming games.
2. Manchester United hero, Casemiro sent off against Southampton
The biggest talking point of this match was Casemiro’s controversial red card. The 31-year-old was given a straight red for a dangerous challenge in the first half. Casemiro did win the ball initially, however his follow through was deemed as dangerous.
The red sparked great controversy due to the inconsistency of referees and VAR in recent weeks. For example, Liverpool midfielder Fabinho wasn’t given a red against Brighton a few weeks ago for a much worse challenge with more intent. Ten Hag made his frustrations clear after the game and even brought up the fact that Casemiro had never been given a straight red in his entire career before coming to United.
Despite this the defensive midfield does need to take more care of his discipline. Casemiro had a poor game before the red and was often gifting possession to Southampton. He needlessly lunged in and committed the foul even though there was defenders behind him.
United’s summer signing will now miss United’s next four games against Fulham, Newcastle, Brentford and Everton. A massive blow for the Reds during a crucial period in their season.
3. Martinez impresses against Southampton
Lisandro Martinez has been one of the signings of the season so far. Although Martinez was woeful against Liverpool a week ago, he was back to his scintillating best in this contest. Martinez did receive a yellow in the first half for obstruction but improved drastically from that point on.
He won the majority of his ground and aerial duels and came out on top against Adams. The Argentine’s passing was excellent and United’s best chances came from the defender passing through the Southampton midfield. Even when United went down to ten, the ball playing centre back was proactive in possession and always looked forward.
On numerous occasions ‘the butcher’ kept his composure to evade tackles and pick the right pass. He was a threat in the opposition box too and came close to scoring twice from corners. His partnership with Varane continues to thrive and grow and his consistent form will be crucial to United’s efforts to compete on all fronts.
4. Promising cameo from Pellistri
Fancundo Pellistri minutes this season have been limited this season with the youngster finding himself behind Antony, Sancho and Elanga in the pecking order. However in recent weeks Pellistri has been give minutes off the bench to impress and he’s done exactly that. He made an instant impact in midweek and showed glimpses of quality in the game against Southampton.
The 21-year-old was diligent in adhering to his defensive duties and also worked hard in the final third to get United a late winner. It’s refreshing to see him see use his pace and trickery to his advantage, often attempting to take on his man rather than cut inside like Antony. It can be argued that the direct winger isn’t physically ready for the league yet, however Pellistri has shown that he posses the technical quality to be a United player.
With the Reds playing every three days and still in the hunt for more trophies, Pellistri deserves to start more games. On Thursday, United will travel to Spain with a three goal advantage and surely this is a chance for the electric winger to perhaps start and get a full 90 minutes under his belt.
5. Injury worry for Garnacho after Southampton match
Alejandro Garnacho came off the bench to replace Sancho as United began to tire late on in the contest. The 18-year-old has been impressive in recent weeks and was perhaps unlucky to not start this fixture. Garnacho came on with Pellistri to provide fresh legs out wide and he did exactly that.
The Argentinian was only on the pitch for a short duration but did have an impact on proceedings. On multiple occasions the Manchester United youngster got the better of the Southampton defenders, who were unable to keep him quiet. However, during the late stages of the game Garnacho was tackled in the box by Walker-Peters.
Garnacho was unable to get off the turf and was in visible pain. After receiving treatment, Garnacho came back on to the pitch but was unable to continue for much longer. In stoppage time he was replaced by Fred and after the match he left Old Trafford on crutches. Potentially another huge blow for United.
