Rio Ferdinand believes Manchester United executed their game plan against Southampton perfectly, suggesting it is not always as easy as it seems to beat a team that has had a player sent off.
United hammered Saints 9-0 at Old Trafford to equal their 9-0 victory against Ipswich Town in 1995 as the club’s joint-biggest win in Premier League history.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side were 4-0 up by half-time, as Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Marcus Rashford and Edinson Cavani took advantage of Alex Jankewitz’s early red card, with Jan Bednarek scoring an own goal.
The hosts continued to run riot after the break, with Anthony Martial netting twice, while Bruno Fernandes, Scott McTominay and Daniel James also got on the scoresheet as Bednarek was sent off at 6-0 to reduce Saints to nine men.
Former United defender Ferdinand was impressed by the team’s ruthlessness in front of goal after they had drawn a blank against Arsenal on Saturday.
“It’s just what the doctor ordered,” Ferdinand said on BT Sport. “After the week they’ve had, where they dropped points, got themselves into a great position in the league and didn’t justify it themselves.
“We asked for a performance, yeah, they were helped with the red card. This is what their strike force needed, they needed a game like this where they could fill their boots, regain some confidence and really get some momentum going.
“Being able to commit men forward because of the sending off enabled them to open up and they did it well. You can go up against 10 men and feel like it’s harder than playing against 11 sometimes because they sit back and wait to be broken down but Man United did it perfectly today.
“They spread the pitch wide, made space through the middle areas through the width in the team and didn’t get caught up trying to go through the middle of the park.”
