Manchester United returned to winning ways after beating Southampton 3-0 in Saturday afternoon’s early Premier League match at St. Marys’.
The Red Devils eased the pressure on Erik Ten Hag after cruising past Russell Martin’s struggling Saints.
First-half goals from Matthijs De Ligt and Marcus Rashford set the tone before substitute Alejandro Garnacho netted a late third 10 minutes after Jack Stephens was shown a straight red card for a poorly timed challenge.
The afternoon could have turned out very different for the Red Devils though. Southampton started the game the better of the two sides with goalkeeper Andre Onana called into action after Diogo Dalot conceded a penalty after just 33 minutes.
The Cameroon international produced when his side needed him the most and confidently saved Cameron Archer’s spot-kick.
Andre Onana wants settled back four
The former Inter Milan shot-stopper was in fine form and didn’t put a foot wrong all afternoon, despite seeing three of his defenders substituted due to injury concerns. Harry Maguire replaced Noussair Mazraoui, Jonny Evans came on for Lisandro Martinez with Casemiro replacing De Ligt in the closing stages.
And speaking about the number of changes United have been forced into at the back, which have included 16 different defensive lineups since the keeper joined 12 months ago, Onana, when asked by TNT Sports’ punditry panel after the match how he deals with so many changes, said: “Yes, it’s not always easy to change all the time, the back four, but sometimes you have to be pragmatic.
“There are things in life we cannot control; injuries and other things, so we have to deal with the situation.”
Bruno Fernandes reminded he’s a midfielder
Going on to highlight Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes’ ability to fill in in an unfamiliar position, Onana admitted his captain is “not the best” when asked to play at centre-back.
“And if if Casemiro has to play centre- back, I have to deal with the situation,” the United keeper added.
“Sometimes we have him Bruno [Fernandes] centre back and he’s not the best there, but we try to do our best.”
Onana’s latest performance sees the 28-year-old improve his Premier League season record to two clean sheets in four appearances. The African will be hoping Erik Ten Hag’s preferred centre-back pairing of Lisandro Martinez and De Ligt can return as soon as possible following today’s precautionary withdrawals.