Robin van Persie crowned his manager the victor of the first battle of the Dutch War between Manchester United and Southampton managers Louis van Gaal and Ronald Koeman. On an evening which saw the first chapter of the Premier League edition of this struggle written, Graziano Pelle ended his goal drought but van Persie’s double was the difference between the two sides after the final whistle.
The battle of St. Mary’s saw home side’s Koeman and Pelle – both summer signings from Dutch side Feyenoord – take on van Gaal and van Persie in what was an all-Holland event. The match was spicy enough already before kick off, and that was not only due to the fact that it was a clash between two teams sitting in fourth and fifth places in the league table.
The relationship between both teams managers is one of the most formidable in Europe. In a brief summary of their history, the pair worked together successfully in Barcelona in the late 90s as manager and assistant manager. Things got heated up however when Koeman was named manager of Ajax Amsterdam, with van Gaal taking the position of the Dutch club’s technical director. There would be nothing wrong with that, if only van Gaal had focused on his job. Instead he interfered with Koeman’s work as manager and things got heated up between the two. Van Gaal really blew up the argument when he sold Ibrahimovic to Juventus on the last day of the transfer window for a laughable fee of €16 million, leaving Ajax with no striker and Koeman with no time to bring in a new one. Both had lost their job before the calendar year was over. Fast forward a few years and we find ourselves in Southampton, where the Red Devils have come to entertain the Saints with two former friends now rivals sitting in the dugouts, trying to tactically outsmart one another.
Southampton pushed United on the back foot from the early stages, putting Koemans obvious preparations to good use. The applied pressure resulted in the first chance for the home team as Bertrand’s cross was met by a looping header from Shane Long who put too much power on it and only sent it on the top of the goal netting. Then out of nowhere, the visitors were ahead only 12 minutes into the game. Clyne and Rooney fought for the ball which fell to the covering Fonte. The Saint’s captain tried to play the ball back to his keeper but underhit the pass and simultaneously failed to spot the run of van Persie who ghosted from behind the Portuguese, reading his intention brilliantly. The Dutchman was left alone against the advancing Forster and beat the helpless keeper between his legs for the first time of the night.
The home side were a little shell shocked but gradually tightened their screw again as van Gaal was forced to bring on Jonny Evans for the injured Chris Smalling. Pelle forced De Gea into a smart stop at his near post as he fired the ball low and powerful from a turn in the 28th minute. But the Italian got his second chance three minutes later and put the Saints level. Fellaini misplaced a pass in the middle of the field which allowed Steven Davis to charge forward. The United defense only cleared as far as Long on the right edge of the penalty area, who sent a cross back into the box. Tadic’s shot was blocked but fell kindly to Pelle, who left De Gea with no chance and thundered the ball into the top corner. The striker had not scored in six previous league games but broke his misfortune in just the right time.
Four minutes later, McNair’s messy clearance fell to Long on the edge of the 6 yard box and he volleyed his shot over when he should have scored. The 18 year old Red Devils defender was then substituted for Ander Herrera much to his humiliation and confusion of all players in the Blue shirt. Pelle’s mishit shot then almost found Long but De Gea was out fast to collect the ball. With the last action of the first half, the Red Devils put together their first proper passing sequence in the final third which ended in van Persie’s powerful drive into the side netting.
Six minutes after the restart, Long should have put the home side ahead when a gorgeous cross from the impressive Tadic found Long unguarded at the far post, but he sent his header straight into De Gea who pulled out another great save to keep United level. While the goalkeeper was again in top form, his defence again had holes like Emmental cheese. Marcos Rojo went on an adventure but lost the ball to Tadic, was caught out of position with the Serbian feeding Pelle whose shot was aiming for the top corner but was sent inches wide.
As it became more and more obvious it would be only a matter of time until the home side take the lead, Wayne Rooney’s brilliant free kick found van Persie at the back post and he side footed a close range effort through Forster’s legs for the second time in the game, stunning St. Mary’s and lifting the United fans to their feet again. Southampton then threw the kitchen sink at the visitors and since almost everything passed through their defense, it was up t
o their goalkeeper to respond, which De Gea did and in some style. The Spaniard kept out Pelle’s venomous effort from the left with a brilliant one handed stop. In the dying moments, Clyne sent his 25 yard strike just wide of the post as Manchester United held on to the result, which sees them leap into third place in the Premier League after five successive wins.
The Red Devils were hardly the better team on Monday evening and Southampton will be kicking themselves for their wastefulness in front of goal when they should have been out of reach before van Persie scored his second. Despite not playing particularly well, it is the points that count and United are currently putting victories together and are now only 8 points behind league leaders Chelsea. They were out-shot 15 to 3 on Monday, with all three shots coming from their Dutch striker, two of which found the back of the net. The Red Devils created only two chances in 90 minutes, which is incredibly low for a team of their standard. For comparison, the Saints have created twelve. Manchester United’s performances aren’t the difference between last season and this season, it is the team’s ability to win despite being outplayed, which never seemed like a defining characteristic under David Moyes. Their defense remains the biggest weakness and they can thank their goalkeeper for sitting this high up, considering the team’s performances.
Ronald Koeman will be happy with his side’s performance, less so with the result as defeat to his bitter rival van Gaal sees Southampton suffer their third successive defeat, and failing in all their tests so far against last years top seven finishers. With games against Everton, Chelsea and Arsenal coming up in the next five rounds, this is a disturbing thought and the Saints must put some wins together again if they are to challenge for European Cups.
