As Southampton gear up to face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon, there is no doubt that the Saints’ faithful will take a moment or two to recollect the events at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’ last time round.
The Saints went to United last year looking for their first away win at Louis van Gaal’s men in the last 27 years and after boss Ronald Koeman masterminded a perfect performance from his side, they duly delivered.
It was a game of very few chances for Southampton, however United midfielder Juan Mata had several opportunities to put his side ahead, but failed to do so due to another sublime performance from Fraser Forster and the Southampton defence.
Saints fans feared the worst with Toby Alderweireld’s injury in the early stages of the affair, however Romanian centre-back Florin Gardos slotted straight into the heart of the Southampton defence next to captain Jose Fonte and had a superb game.
The tie against United was also the debut for former loanee Eljero Elia after he had joined from Werder Bremen at the start of the month until the end of the season; making a solid first start for the Saints.
However, the headlines were made by a certain Serbian at Old Trafford on the Sunday evening.
Dusan Tadic, who coincidentally replaced Elia, came on in the second half for Southampton after he was surprisingly excluded from Ronald Koeman’s starting 11.
Graziano Pelle found an opening in United’s area before lashing a low shot against David de Gea’s near post, but thankfully the ball found its way to Tadic, just inside the box who carefully tucked the ball home to give Saints the lead.
After resisting United’s onslaught of attacks throughout the last 20 minutes subsequent to Tadic’s goal, Saints came away with a historic victory to lift them above their opponents and into third place.
Southampton will be hoping for a repeat fixture this Saturday as they look to make it three consecutive Premier League wins.
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