Man Utd lift mood by easing to victory at 10-man Southampton

Manchester United gave manager Erik ten Hag some breathing space with a 3-0 win at Southampton on Saturday thanks to goals from Matthijs de Ligt, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho.

However, United had to ride out an early Southampton storm and the outcome could have been vastly different had Andre Onana not saved Cameron Archer’s penalty at 0-0.

De Ligt’s first United goal and Rashford’s first for six months quickly flipped momentum in the visitors’ favour just before half-time.

Southampton’s woes were compounded when captain Jack Stephens was sent-off 11 minutes from time for a wild challenge on Garnacho, who rounded off the scoring in stoppage time.

“Sometimes you have to find a way to win,” said Ten Hag. “The first minutes we had some problems but after Andre stopped the penalty and the goal by De Ligt I think the game was all ours.”

Saints remain without a point from four games on their return to the Premier League, while United’s second win of the season lifts them up to eighth.

Ten Hag began the campaign already under scrutiny after surviving an internal review of his position in May following an eighth-place finish in the Premier League last season.

Back-to-back defeats before the international break to Brighton and Liverpool had ramped up the pressure even more on the Dutchman and the Red Devils had to ride their luck early on at St. Mary’s.

A failure to make the most of some promising build-up play has been the story of Southampton’s their return to the top flight.

Teenager Tyler Dibling caught the eye on his first Premier League start and his trickery lured Diogo Dalot into a rash challenge inside the area.

But Archer’s spot-kick lacked conviction and Onana parried his attempt before easily clutching the striker’s