Matthijs de Ligt knows the value of Manchester United’s victory at Southampton

Matthijs de Ligt was pleased by Manchester United’s return to winning ways as under-fire Erik ten Hag and his players blocked out the noise and stayed strong following their loss to Liverpool.

The international break has been one of scrutiny and renewed pressure after the Red Devils’ late loss at Brighton was compounded by an embarrassing loss to their rivals at Old Trafford.

But Ten Hag’s men bounced back from that 3-0 defeat with a win by the same scoreline at Southampton, where De Ligt scored his first United goal shortly after Andre Onana saved a Cameron Archer spot-kick.

Marcus Rashford and substitute Alejandro Garnacho completed the victory on an afternoon when summer signing De Ligt collected the man of the match award.

Leading from the back