09:29
The Red Devils went ahead through Robin van Persie but could not
find a second after the break, and were made to pay at the death when
the defender poked in from a corner
Dejan Lovren scrambled in a late equaliser to
secure a 1-1 draw for Southampton and give Manchester United manager
David Moyes another headache.
Robin van Persie struck in the 26th minute to
end Southampton's run of not conceding in their past five matches in
all competitions, but Lovren bundled home James Ward-Prowse's
89th-minute corner to extend his side's unbeaten Premier League run to
five matches.
Both teams made two changes from their
previous top-flight outings a fortnight ago, with Jonny Evans and
Marouane Fellaini replacing Nemanja Vidic and Tom Cleverley for the
hosts.
Saints boss Mauricio Pochettino, meanwhile, brought in
Luke Shaw and Jay Rodriguez in place of Daniel Fox, omitted altogether,
and striker Rickie Lambert, who dropped to the bench.Artur Boruc made the first save of note in
the 11th minute, getting down smartly to deny Van Persie after the
striker got on the end of Nani's pass 12 yards from goal.
Midway
through the opening period, Adam Lallana robbed Wayne Rooney deep in the
United half before feeding Pablo Osvaldo on the edge of the box, but
the Italy international's shot was weak and David de Gea gathered
comfortably.
A minute later, the visitors were made to rue that miss as Van Persie put United in front.Adnan Januzaj, celebrating the signing of a new five-year contract,
released Rooney with a wonderful pass from deep and, although Boruc
rushed from his line to deny the England forward, Van Persie collected
the rebound and slotted the ball beyond the covering Lovren.
The
momentum was firmly with the home side by this point, and two minutes
later Rooney hammered a shot off the crossbar after collecting another
Nani pass from the right.
After a quiet period either side of the
break, Rooney slotted the ball beyond Boruc after exchanging passes
with Van Persie in the 60th minute, only for the assistant referee to
correctly raise his flag for offside.
Suddenly the game came to
life, Van Persie heading Rooney's corner against the crossbar and, after
the ball was hooked back into the box, Nani had a header well saved by
Boruc down to his right.
Less than a minute later, the Polish
goalkeeper was called into action again, beating away Januzaj's powerful
drive from 30 yards before Fellaini blazed the rebound over.
De
Gea denied Nathaniel Clyne with four minutes to go, but with just one
minute remaining, Lovren squeezed Ward-Prowse's set piece beyond the
Spaniard from six yards.
The
result means United have taken just five points from four home league
matches this season as their Premier League title defence continues to
falter.
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