Matthijs de Ligt needed two minutes to prove Erik ten Hag right about Manchester United signing

Manchester United survived a scare at Southampton to earn a second Premier League win of the season and ease the pressure that had been building on Erik ten Hag.

United started poorly at St Mary's and the Saints should have made their dominance count when they were awarded a first-half penalty, only for Andre Onana to save Cameron Archer's effort from 12 yards.

That moment woke United up and within eight minutes they were 2-0 up. First, Matthijs de Ligt angled a smart header beyond Aaron Ramsdale before Marcus Rashford's shot arrowed in off the post.

Ten Hag's side never looked back, controlling the rest of the game and cruising over the finishing line once Jack Stephens was sent-off for a crude lunge on Alejandro Garnacho, who added a third deep into stoppage time.

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De Ligt's delight

There was never any realistic chance of Ten Hag following the lead of Ronald Koeman and taking De Ligt out of the team to protect him. The 25-year-old suffered a demoralising international break and his confidence must have taken a hit, but Ten Hag has more faith than anyone in his abilities.

On paper, the central defensive partnership of De Ligt and Lisandro Martinez is a good one and they should complement each other. If De Ligt wanted to busy himself to forget about his Dutch despair then he got his wish.

He had to do a lot of early defending, some of it a little desperate - through no fault of his own - and did manage to clear his lines. If there was a concern it was how often he was being dragged across to cover the space behind Noussair Mazraoui. That's a position no central defender wants to be in and on one occasion Kyle