Nervy debut win

By Chris,
February 3 2011

Manchester United staged another impressive comeback, coming from a goal behind at Southampton in the F.A Cup fourth round. Richard Chaplow had given the League One Saints a well-earned lead, but Michael Owen and Javier Hernandez were on target after the break to keep United's Cup dreams alive and spare the blushes of the travelling Red Army.

Sir Alex Ferguson made a host of changes for the tie, with 26-year-old goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard making his debut.

Chris Smalling, Fabio Da Silva and Gabriel Obertan all started as United locked horns with a Southampton side who dumped much-changed Blackpool out in the previous round.

Nearly 29,000 packed into the St.Mary's and the home fans witness their side boss the opening half for long periods and take a deserved lead into the break.

Southampton played with bags of endeavour and ambition, but lacked a cutting edge in front of goal. Meanwhile, sloppy United went close when Michael Owen struck the post, but the ten-time winners looked second best for long periods.

The deadlock was broken on the stroke of half-time. Ex-Burnley man Chaplow showed some nice skill in teeing the ball up before rifling a fine, long-range drive beyond the reach of Lindegaard.

Sir Alex Ferguson introduced Wesley Brown at the break to shore up his defensive pack and, as the hour-mark approached, introduced Nani and Ryan Giggs to the fray as Southampton edged towards an upset.

The substitutions leased fresh life into United and they pulled level on 65 minutes to the delight of the travelling fans. Obertan's cross eventually found Owen and the diminutive striker nodded home.

Southampton remained resilient and looked on course for a money-spinning replay before Giggs’ through ball found Hernandez and the Mexican slotted home the winner.

This was hard on Southampton but United again showed trademark comeback character and can now look forward to the fifth round. A Wembley semi-final is two wins away.

Full Time – Southampton 1-2 Manchester United
Attendance – 28,792