Saints achieved arguably their best result in their Premier League as Ronald Koeman once again reshuffled his pack not just in his starting line up but through injury and tactical nous.

This result cannot be underestimated, Unite had the second best home record in the Premier yet Saints did not even allow them a shot on target as they played the game to perfection, holding United in the first half then imposing themselves on the game.

Some will say that Saints were lucky, United had 60% possession, but the fact is they did little with it and that was due to the superb discipline of every Saints player who did their job and deserved a victory.

Indeed Saints could have gone ahead before they did, they had a couple of chances early on and they really should have had a penalty, how Phil Dowd standing yards away failed to spot Pelle being held and unable to jump for a corner is a mystery, indeed the Saints forward's shirt was above his chest, whether Dowd thought it was there due to a gust of wind is anyone's guess.

But Saints did what teams like Liverpool in the 80's Chelsea and United themselves have done and that is go into difficult games and weather the storm and make sure that the opposition don't damage you and that is why this side are so good, they are built on defensive strength and that wins games, even more impressive when you take into account that we lost arguably our best player this season Toby Alderweireld to injury after only 20 minutes.

The goal when it came was classic Saints, worked with a series of quick passing JWP involved and then Dusan Tadic controlling and finding Pelle, it was a tight angle and it came back off the post but there was Tadic again to cooly slot it home through a crowd of players.

It is hard to pick a man of the match from this performance, all were 10/10 for both workrate and the way we never lapsed in concentration from the start to the finish, a couple of mentions though, Eljero Elia struggled to get into the game at first but the more it went on the better he became, suggesting he could be a real asset.

Also Florin Gardos, thrown into the lion's den after only 20 minutes he not only picked up the pace of the game quickly, something which is always hard when you come on so early, but he won some crucial tackles and aerial battles.

So Saints march on again and sit proudly in third place, there is a long way to go and going into this weekend we could easily have ended it in fifth place with teams breathing down our necks, instead we are now five points clear of Spurs in sixth and that is a big gap.

But as i said in another article, at this end of the table the most important game is always the next one and this will only be valuable if we now go on and beat Newcastle next weekend, we will go there with confidence as we should do going forward, as i also said this team is learning with every game, they learn their lessons well and make sure they don't make the same mistakes twice.

Photo: Action Images

dirk_doone added 19:03 - Jan 11 You make me laugh, Nick. All of the experts pick Fonte as their Man of the Match but you still won't give him a mention. Instead you shift the praise for our great central defence from Alderweireld to Gardos. Fonte has been our best player this season, and he was again today.
3

NewYorkSaint added 19:38 - Jan 11 Fonte was MoM. But all around great team performance.
2

Consigliere added 19:49 - Jan 11 I DON'T SPEAK DUTCH but I didn't need to in order to understand their commentary team's disbelief that Smalling wasn't penalised for endless shirt-pulling on Pele this afternoon (those of you who watched the match on the same website with the Dutch commentary will understand this point). I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at the normal application of the Man U clause in the rules but it still grates. Away from all of that however, I've been watching Saints and waiting for (more than) 27/28 years (or whatever it is) to see a result like this! What an afternoon and what a performance. Stand by for the usual "Man U had an off day" rubbish from the usual suspects - this was a tremendous team effort. Perhaps Fonte and Wanyama aside, no stand-out performances because this was all about pulling together, and man, did they do that well! To confine Man U to a few tame shots in the general direction of goal is itself a wonderful outcome but to look so dangerous in attack was beyond expectations. Let us all enjoy the moment, because there are so many disappointments when you are a fan that a bit of success is something to be cherished whilst it lasts.

7

heroholmes1 added 20:08 - Jan 11 We should have beaten them at St Mary's so they shouldn't be surprised at the result, we have been doing quite well recently. Could we really finish above them? I think we are the better team. The guy next to me didn't like Tadic's celebration as it was a "stupid booking" I loved it, if your family had lived in Serbia and been raised on £100 a month and you scored the winner at Old Traffold you too might want to enjoy the moment and importantly know your history and mock one of their legends. Good work Dusan

5

SaintDownUnder added 22:27 - Jan 11 I said on this site a few days ago that I felt we could go into this fixture with more expectation than hope, but you still have to go and get a result against them and the officials. Just a brilliant effort and as Consigliere eloquently put it, one we should all reflect on and enjoy. The most impressive thing is where doing this whilst coping with a hectic fixture list and injuries and suspensions to key players, I cant remember us every having this depth. The defence is outstanding and we're beginning to believe......1-0 to saints - we've turned into Arsenal of the 80's and they won a few things.

1

SaintNick added 23:23 - Jan 11 Dirk, I didn't mention a lot of players but I said that all were man of the match, I mentioned Gardos because he was a possible weak link when he came on but did his bit Fonte did his bit too today and was as good as anyone out there, not our best player this season though, Alderweireld has been better for one
0

ThereIn76 added 23:30 - Jan 11 In 40 years as a supporter I have never witnessed a better, more disciplined defensive performance from a Saints side. I too think that all the players put in man of the match displays but so did the manager. A proud day and a great one to be a Saints fan.
2

davepid added 00:22 - Jan 12 A great day for us travelling fans. Plenty to sing about . Result could have only been bettered if our winner had been scored by a Luke Shaw own goal. After our defending this week and against Chelsea a week or two ago we have forged a confidence and real character to this part of our game, not that we were weak before. I would underline Nicks point about Gardos being good enough and Reedas well for a shorter trial period. Perhaps we do now have depth in the squad to go the season distance . COYR.

1

BoondockSaint added 04:00 - Jan 12 Usual Premier money pecking order rules applied, Pelle's shirt twice-no calls and even if Van Persie was right, they knocked the ball out because our player was injured, so then we throw it in to them, not a drop ball, acting petulant and slapping the ball away from the ref should have be a yellow! After reading Guardian article the Consdgliere mentioned yesterday, I want RoKo to sign a lifetime contract, But how prophetic was it? It mentioned Koeman telling Cruyff he was never going to sit him on the bench again, Koeman sits Tadic and he responds with a goal! Only quibble: PLEASE stop Borucing about with the ball and Forster with one, and sometimes two opposing players within 20 yards!! March on!

1

brian1fish added 05:37 - Jan 12 Brilliant result. Watching the TV here in Asia, I thought Morgan was probably the key man for us. But honestly wouldn't have minded if they'd given MOM to any other player in the 'famous' (!) Southampton dark blue shirt .. Glad you mentioned the 2 keys subs though.. Best Gardos performance I've seen, and Dusan's twinkling nimble feet were back to their dancing brillance.

1

WestSussexSaint added 07:27 - Jan 12 Agree with NewYork that Fonte was the stand out performance. All the players did their job but it was Jose who was directing everyone at the back. Immense! No one can deny we are serious top 4 contenders now and that can only help with any transfer dealings in the east of this month.
1

TeamCortese added 07:44 - Jan 12 Unbelievable run of results over the past few weeks. I don't care what anyone says in the media or what not. Any team that can get 7 points out of a possible 9 playing Chelsea, Arsenal and Man Utd (at OLD TRAFFORD!) is a very, very good team. I would like to see how Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern fair in the same situation--especially without a winter break! Like many people on this forum this a result we should savour. When you think about our situation 5-6 months we have come such a long-way and I hope it continues that way. Roko is saying we are genuine contenders for a top 6 position but I think in his heart-of-hearts he would be very disappointed if we don't get into the Champions League. However, I think at this stage it's best to lower expectation. One shouldn't forget Everton came very close last season and so did Spurs a couple of seasons ago. It will be interesting to see what happens in the January Transfer Window and also when key players come back (Jay Rod, Cork, Alderweireld, and Mané). I really think we're underestimating the level of depth and talent in our squad. COYR!

1

sidsaint added 09:58 - Jan 12 Agree with everything above. Isn't it great that we have such a brilliant tactically astute manager and a group of players that understand what he is trying to do and have the skill base to carry it out. Just one example towards the end when we had a corner and RK signalled 2 and 2 players went and held on to the ball to kill time, just a small thing I know but it shows the way the team and managerial staff work together and understand each other. Long may it continue.

0

aceofthebase added 10:51 - Jan 12 Gardos is not a potential weak link, he is as good a player as Fonte or Toby. Now that he has played a few more games everyone will see his qualities. But the only really important point is that our team led by RoKo are winning games against top opposition. Great team effort.
0

SaintNick added 10:55 - Jan 12 When he came on he was a "potential" weak link, anyone playing at Old Trafford or the ilk with only two starts in the Premier league and a handful of minutes has to be a potential problem due to their inexperience at this level. Of course Gardos showed that this was not the case
0

BaselSaint added 11:22 - Jan 12 Pelle really deserves credit for keeping his cool yesterday as he was being continually and openly fouled by the Manc defence. He draws the attention and energy of the opposition defenders brilliantly and knows his role exactly - a target man in every way. If anything he was a little too `honest` and maybe should have hit the deck once or twice. PS What the heck was Phil Dowd doing when all that was taking place? Unbelievable!

4

Zambucco added 13:14 - Jan 12 Great point BaselSaint, although Pelle may not be scoring with the same consistency now he is a marked man and he will continue to struggle with all the attention he now receives as he is not a Suarez or Aguero, but the job he does is brilliant, similar to Rickie. But he will continue to score, very unlucky with his shot that the goal came from. His calm has to be applauded, cinsidering he's a firey? Latin, I wonder how Osvaldo would have reacted? Speaking of him, I still dream of him becoming a true Saint and using his god given skills, to play the beautiful game, oherwise what a waste of talent. I am the eternal optimist, but I am only now starting to belive my own predictions of a top 6 finish. Yesterday's performance showed me we really do have a squad capable of achiving Europe. We remained calm, kept doing their jobs, we contained UTD in a way they couldn't handle, not even in the post match interviews. I think they showed that UTD know they're not a great squad and that recent results were riding their luck. Great teams always have kind words for their opponents when deserved. It's not as though we were hanging on by our fingernails and defending desperately, we remained calm and in control, like a great team. For me Wanyama MOTM closely followed by Morgan. Jose played a great captains role and still exceeds expectations, Gardos had a better game IMHO. My one concern at the moment is my favourite Steven Davis, he seems off form at the moment, losing the ball way too easy and some of his passingis not on the mark. Yes he's still an immense player and a worthy first choice. Maybe others will disagree, but they probably don't watch him as closly as me, I'm not obsessive, but I love the way he calmly and quirtly breaks up play, then quickly turns it into attack, a current day Alan Ball. Elia has massive promise too. Overall not a glittering display, but possilby one of the best ever games by a Saints team. A very important result that will give the squad even more confidence and lift us to new heights COYR!

0

gpsgm added 13:37 - Jan 12 Just to add to the Fonte debate. He was a 'potential' weak link at some point in our recent past. He is now our best Captain of the season and needs credit for leading a team of 'relegation contenders' into 3rd place. All Hail Hose !!!
2

SingaporeSaint added 13:42 - Jan 12 Seldom been so proud as today. Superb disciplined performance. Loved the team spirit and reaction to the goal and at FT. Great header from yoshida too btw. Dare to dream - we have a real chance of champions league here.
0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Middlesbrough Polls