Ronald Koeman records famous Southampton victory

Ronald Koeman applauds the fans following victory over Manchester United at old Trafford. Picture: Getty

Second-half substitute Dusan Tadic stroked the ball calmly past David de Gea in the 69th minute to give Saints a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford.

A near full-strength United, who started with Angel di Maria up front, were poor all afternoon and rarely looked like beating Fraser Forster in the away goal. Their case was not helped when Robin van Persie hobbled off with an injury in the second half.

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United’s tempo was slow, their crossing poor, and they were out-muscled by a disciplined and organised Southampton defence which registered its tenth clean sheet of a remarkable season that has exceeded all expectations.

Having lost a raft of players in the summer, Saints were touted as relegation contenders, but now, incredibly, they are third in the Barclays Premier League having leapfrogged United because of this win.

The theory that Saints are not good enough to mix it with the big boys was shot down here. Southampton are just ten points behind leaders Chelsea. Make no mistake – their Champions League credentials are real.

The south-coast club felt hard done by when they lost 2-1 to United last month and they just about deserved to get their revenge here.

And Koeman, who fell out with Van Gaal during their time together at Ajax, enjoyed breaking United’s 11-match  unbeaten run more than anyone, punching the air with glee when Tadic hit the winner which consigned United to their second home defeat of the  season.

Van Gaal spoke on Friday of his  desire to make United the best team on the planet. It would be hard to imagine that the likes of Chelsea or Real Madrid were quaking in their boots after their first-half display, though.

Southampton had the better of the early exchanges. Nathaniel Clyne, who has been linked with United,  exchanged passes with Graziano Pelle and sneaked into the box but he dragged his shot wide.

Di Maria, playing up front alongside Van Persie, worked hard and won a free-kick after being fouled by Morgan Schneiderlin, but United wasted the free-kick.

Michael Carrick did well to nod a long high ball behind under pressure from Jose Fonte as Saints continued their impressive start. The visitors were forced into an early change, though, when Toby Alderweireld was replaced by Florin Gardos after suffering a thigh injury.

Forster was called into action for the first time after 28 minutes when he collected Daley Blind’s chip, which sailed narrowly over Di Maria’s head.

There was a slight improvement by United just before half-time, Van Persie’s deflected shot drawing a save from Forster before Di Maria fired wide from long-range.

United still struggled to create any decent chances straight after the break. When Di Maria got a sight of goal, Gardos stuck his leg out and denied the  Argentinian.

Chris Smalling was fortunate not to give away a penalty as he pulled Pelle’s shirt in the box, while Van Persie let his frustrations get the better of him as he lashed out at Fonte to earn a booking. The Dutchman then suffered an injury and was replaced moments later by Ander Herrera.

Former Southampton left-back Luke Shaw was surprisingly booed by the Saints fans when he was replaced by Tyler Blackett, but the away supporters were rejoicing soon after when their team took the lead.

Tadic, who had only been on the pitch for six minutes, calmly slotted the ball past De Gea after Pelle’s shot rebounded off the post into his path. The Serbian removed his shirt in a joyous celebration and Koeman sprung from his seat to celebrate on the touchline.

Juan Mata blasted a low shot wide and then somehow missed from five yards as Koeman’s men went on to claim a morale-boosting win.

“It’s not every day you get a win at Old Trafford against a great team so for us it’s a pleasure and something we should be proud of,” said man of the match Fonte. “There’s a long way to go but it’s another three points. We got a lot of confidence from this game. It was a game that we defended really well, and they only had shots from outside the box if I’m not wrong. It was a fantastic game this afternoon.”

Although some performances under Van Gaal have been far from spectacular, the 63-year-old has gone a long way to restoring the sense of grandeur about the 20-time English champions that was lacking during the failed reign of David Moyes. But, understandably, the Dutchman was disappointed with the result as United dropped down a spot into fourth.

He said: “We didn’t create many chances despite dominating the game. Mata had three chances and he could have scored one of these chances, but you cannot change this result any more.

“You have always to take into account that also the opponent can play well, and they defended well and were well organised. But they came for a draw, I believe, and went home with victory which was disappointing.”

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