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Man Utd v Southampton

Man Utd 0

Southampton 1

Austin 87′

FT 90 +6
HT 0-0

Charlie Austin joined Southampton from QPR for £4m last week

By Phil Dawkes
BBC Sport

Substitute Charlie Austin scored seven minutes into his Southampton debut to inflict more Old Trafford pain on a lacklustre Manchester United.

Austin rose to head home a corner in the 87th minute to win an otherwise dour game of few chances.

Southampton have now won at United in the league for the last two seasons.

United and their manager Louis van Gaal were booed off by home fans at full-time after producing just one shot on target in 90 minutes.

They have won just one of their past five home games – and have failed to score in three of those.

United’s first-half record in front of goal is even worse. They have now gone eight hours and 26 minutes without scoring in the first 45 minutes of games at Old Trafford.

Van Gaal’s side are now five points behind fourth-placed Tottenham, who won 3-1 at Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Southampton are now just four points and three league places behind United, having won their past three matches. The win also ends a four-match losing streak away from St Mary’s for Ronald Koeman’s team.

Austin’s dream debut

Southampton paid QPR just £4m to sign Austin on 16 January – a figure more representative of the length of time left on his contract with the Championship club than his ability.

In the 2014-15 season, the striker scored 18 Premier League goals, then added 10 in 16 Championship matches prior to his move back to the top flight.

And it took him just seven minutes to pick up where he left off as he found space in the box to meet fellow substitute James Ward-Prowse’s corner and bury a header past David de Gea.

Prior to that, the Saints were comfortable, working hard to disrupt United’s rhythm, managing possession well and looking to hit on the break.

They produced the best of what were few chances in the game, but Sadio Mane fluffed a shot from the edge of the box and Shane Long and Victor Wanyama headed wide from successive corners.

More to follow.

Lineup, Bookings (0) & Substitutions (6)

Manchester United

01 de Gea
36 Darmian (McNair – 60′ )
12 Smalling
17 Blind
35 Lingard
28 Schneiderlin
27 Fellaini (Mata – 45′ )
43 Borthwick-Jackson (Januzaj – 86′ )
21 Herrera
09 Martial
10 Rooney

Substitutes

07 Depay
08 Mata
11 Januzaj
20 Romero
30 Varela
33 McNair
44 Pereira

Southampton

44 Forster
02 Soares
17 van Dijk
06 Fonte
21 Bertrand
12 Wanyama
04 Clasie (Romeu – 67′ )
11 Tadic (Ward-Prowse – 67′ )
10 Mané (Austin – 79′ )
33 Targett
07 Long

Substitutes

03 Yoshida
14 Romeu
15 Martina
16 Ward-Prowse
20 Juanmi
22 Stekelenburg
28 Austin

Ref: Mike Jones

Att: 75,408

Match Stats

Possession

56

44

Shots

8

7

On target

1

2

Corners

4

4

Fouls

11

8

Live Text Commentary

Full time

Full Time Match ends, Manchester United 0, Southampton 1.

90:00 +5:02 Full time

Full Time Second Half ends, Manchester United 0, Southampton 1.

90:00 +4:06

Attempt missed. Adnan Januzaj (Manchester United) left footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the right.

90:00 +2:22

Hand ball by Shane Long (Southampton).

90:00 +0:18

Attempt saved. Oriol Romeu (Southampton) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom left corner.

88:53

Foul by Wayne Rooney (Manchester United).

88:53

Virgil van Dijk (Southampton) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

86:40 Goal scored

Goal! Goal! Manchester United 0, Southampton 1. Charlie Austin (Southampton) header from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by James Ward-Prowse with a cross following a set piece situation.

85:55

Foul by Adnan Januzaj (Manchester United).

85:55

Charlie Austin (Southampton) wins a free kick on the right wing.

85:33 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Manchester United. Adnan Januzaj replaces Cameron Borthwick-Jackson.

79:13

Attempt missed. Shane Long (Southampton) header from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by James Ward-Prowse with a cross following a set piece situation.

78:57 Substitution

Substitution Substitution, Southampton. Charlie Austin replaces Sadio Mané.