Southampton 2 v 2 Manchester United

St Marys, Southampton
14th May 2005

Southampton were yeaterday condemned to playing against the likes of Bradford and Leeds after their last defeat of the Premier League. United brushed past the perennial strugglers with ease - something they should've done against all the other "Lesser" teams in the Premiership.

After a shocking start to the game - O'Shea scored an own goal after just ten minutes, then United began to play, and it was just a matter of time before United firstly equalised (Through Fletcher), and won the game (Through Van Nistelrooy).

United fielded a few second-string players, and rested the likes of Keane, Scholes and the mighty Ronaldo - they will all be getting saved for the big game against Arsenal in the FA Cup final next Saturday.

This was a game of little meaning to United, but it was nice to see that they can still beat inferior opposition - hopefully we'll be doing more of the same next season. Though Southampton will no longer be an easy six points for us!

In conclusion, we won't miss the saints, but we did miss Ronaldo! And we can't wait for Saturday!

Southampton: Niemi, Telfer, Lundekvam, Higginbotham, Bernard (Davenport 78), Prutton (Phillips 71), Redknapp, Quashie, Le Saux (Delap 71), Camara, Ormerod.
Subs Not Used: Smith, Oakley.
Booked: Lundekvam.
Goals: O'Shea 10 og.

Man Utd: Carroll, O'Shea, Brown, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Fortune, Fletcher, Giggs, Smith, Rooney (Saha 74), van Nistelrooy (Phil Neville 87).

Subs Not Used: Kleberson, Keane, Ricardo.
Booked: Brown, Silvestre.
Goals: Fletcher 19, van Nistelrooy 63.

Att: 32,066.
Ref: S Bennett (Kent).