Elsewhere on Planet Football ...
They’re going into extra time at Hillsborough, where itwas 1-1 between Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield in the Championship play-off semi-final second leg after 90 minutes (the away goals rule doesn’t apply in the play-offs). You can follow the rest of that contest with Jacob Steinberg. In Spain, Real Madrid are 3-1 up against Celta Vigo with just 16 minutes of their La Liga match remaining. Bryan Armen Graham is all over that one for the Guardian. Elsewhere, Monaco remain on course to wrap up the Ligue 1 title as they lead St Etienne 1-0 with seven minutes to go. You can see how that ends on our livescore service.
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Full time: Southampton 0-0 Southampton
Peep! Peep! Peeeeeeeeeeeeep! It ends scoreless at Saint Mary’s, where Southampton missed a penalty as they failed to score at home for the fourth match in a row. Manchester United have bigger fish to fry with a Europa League final looming next week, but their goalkeeper Sergio Romero got a good work-out ahead of that, pulling off some fine saves to keep Southampton scoreless.
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90+4 min: United win a throw-in deep in their own half.
90+2 min: We’re in the second of four minutes of added time. Nathan Redmond gets very annoyed indeed after being penalised for a foul on Eric Bailly. Free-kick for United, wide on the right. Wayne Rooney sends the ball into the mixer, but Southampton clear.
90 min: We head towards added time, with Southampton season ticket-holders not having seen their team score at home in almost four games now. If they don’t get a late one tonight, they’ve got Stoke at St Mary’s on Sunday.
88 min: Eric Bailly hobbles off the pitch with what looks like a fairly serious injury, leaving Manchester United with 10 men. He returns to action and plays on, but looks in a lot of pain. He is, you’ll remember suspended for the Europa League final next Wednesday.
86 min: An email from Rob C, regarding Wayne Rooney’s number going up “accidentally” before Juan Mata was taken off instead. “Don’t you know the standard Mou code for ‘pull your finger out!’?” he asks. I actually feel stupid for not twigging that one!
83 min: For all the booing that greeted his introduction, Boufal has been a real handful since coming on. After more good work in that little pocket of space in front of the Manchester United penalty area, he is teed up by Tadic. He curls an effort high over the bar.
80 min: Sofiane Boufal goes on a run through the centre before playing the ball wide to Dusan Tadic on the right flank. Moments later, Boufal gets on the ball again and plays it back to Davis, who threads the ball through the United defence to set up Jay Rodriguez. He shoots low, diagonally and wide of the far post. United’s players appeal for offside and they might have had a point, but no flag was waved.
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76 min: Southampton substitution: Sofiane Boufal on for James Ward-Prowse. It’s an unpopular substitution and the crowd show their disapproval with a chorus of boos. I’m not sure if it’s Boufal they object to, or what they see as negativity on the part of Puel for taking off a player who was Making Things Happen. Among Southampton fans, that seems to be the main grumble about a manager who many seem surprised to see is in danger of losing his job.
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74 min: Manchester United substitution: Marouane Fellaini off, Ander Herrera on. Fellaini goes off and heads for the dug-out, but like Juan Mata and - I think - Axel Tuanzebe before him, Jose Mourinho tells him to head straight for the dressing room and hit the showers, champ.
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71 min: End to end stuff, as Ward-Prowse misses with a good volley at one end, before Anthony Martial hits the foot of the upright with a curled effort at the other. The ball broke kindly for Mikhitarian after striking the woodwork, but the Armenian blasted it high and wide.
70 min: It may be something and nothing, but when Manchester United brought on Rashford, it was Rooney’s number who went up originally, before Mata got hooked instead.
69 min: Southampton substitution: Jeremy Pied on for Cedric.
68 min: Manchester United substitution: Marcus Rashford on for Juan Mata.
67 min: Chris Smalling plays the ball into space in the middle from the right flank and it falls nicely for Rooney. Unable to fashion room for a shot, due to some harrying by Jack Stephens, Rooney lays the ball off to Juan Mata, who blasts high and wide.
65 min: Ouch! Standing on the edge of his technical area, Southampton manager ships a ball straight in the face from the head of Eric Bailly just a couple of yards away. He’s OK and looks on stoically trying to pretend it didn’t hurt.
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63 min: Man Utd substitution: Michael Carrick on for Axel Tuanzebe. Henrikh Mikhitarian plays the ball wide into space for Wayne Rooney, who does well to stay onside. As Mikhitarian continues his run, Rooney attempts to pick him out at the far post, but once again the final ball leaves a lot to be desired.
61 min: Southampton substitution: Jay Rodriguez on, M Gabbiadini off. Given the time of night, perhaps the former Sunderland goal-machine has to go home to leave mints on the pillows adorning the beds of his award-winning guest house.
59 min: Romero saves well from Ward-Prowse, whose shot from 25 yards or so was heading for the corner. Having been assured he’ll be playing in the Europa League final, the goalkeeper is having a good confidence-booster tonight. He’s been very impressive. He’s getting plenty of practice - Southampton have Manchester United on the ropes at the moment.
57 min: Ward-Prowse picks out Gabbiadini on the edge of the middle third and a few passes later, Southampton have themselves another corner. Ward_Prowse sends another inswinger towards the near post, the flick-on falls at the feet of Jack Stephens who a wild swing, but sends his volley back across the face of goal. Manchester United survive the ensuing scramble.
54 min: Romero is called into action again, to push an Oriol Romeu drive out for a corner. James Ward-Prowse’s inswinger is only half-cleared, but the ball quicxkly ends up back in the arms of Romero.
53 min: Actually, looking at a replay, it wasn’t that good an effort and the save was pretty bog-standard. Tadic placed the ball too close to the centre, making life too easy for the goalkeeper.
52 min: ... and tries to curl the ball inside the far post once it’s rolled to him by Davis. Romero dives to his right and fists the ball clear. Good effort and a decent save.
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51 min: Jones obstructs Cedric just outside the penalty area and is booked. Free-kick for Southampton in a great position. Dusan Tadic stands over the ball ...
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50 min: Now Bailly, who is suspended for the final of the Europa League, goes down injured. It doesn’t look particularly serious and after a brief lie-down he hobbles back into action.
48 min: Matt Targett gallops down the inside left, charges straight into Eric Bailly and goes down holding his head. Southampton’s fans appeal for a foul, but Mike Dean is unmoved. Correct decision - Eric Bailly just stood there, while Targett ran into him.
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Second half: Southampton 0-0 Manchester United
46 min: Manchester United kick-off, with no changes in personnel on either side.
Elsewhere on Planet Football
It remains 0-0 on the night and 0-0 on aggregate in the Championship play-off semi-final second leg between Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield Town at half-time. Meanwhile in Italy, Juventus lead Lazio 2-0 after 36 minutes of their Coppa Italia encounter. In Spain, Real Madrid are on course to overtake Barcelona as the top of the Spanish league. Los Blancos lead Celta Vigo 1-0 as they approach half-time. And in France, Ligue 1 leaders Monaco are one up against St Etienne as they near the break in that one. A draw or better there will guarantee them the title with one game to spare.
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Half-time: Southamtpon 0-0 Manchester United
45+1 min: It’s scoreless at the break, but it hasn’t been the worst goalless half of football ever played. Southampton missed a penalty early doors after Eric Bailly handled on the edge of his own penalty area, but apart from that it’s been pretty even. Both sides will be pleased with their approach play, but their short iron-work around the greens needs work.
45 min: Rooney tries his luck from distance, but it’s a poor effort. Moments previously, Nathan Redmond brought a save out of Romero after a neat one-two with Steven Davis.
44 min: Sky co-comms man Danny Higginbotham sums up the first half in a nutshell when he says that the approach play of both sides has been fine, it’s just the final ball has been lacking. He’s not wrong - there have been too many loose or overhit passes from both sets of players.
42 min: Juan Mata curls a wonderful ball towards to the far post, spotting Marouane Fellaini’s run. That man Cedric is on hand once again to get his head to the ball and put it out for a corner. Good vision from Mata, good defending from Cedric.
40 min: Cedric penalised for a little tug on Cedric, I wrote erroneously before noticing my mistake and correcting it. Let’s not go there either.
39 min: Penalised and booked, I should add. Cedric has the air about him of a man who is suffering the after-effects of that Fellaini/Tuanzebe challenge from earlier and would rather be reclining in the comfort of the dug-out with a bag of ice on his knee or ankle.
38 min: A half that began very brightly is getting very scrappy. Cedric is penalised for a little tug on Martial as the Southampton full-back had run past him.
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36 min: The camera cuts to Jose Mourinho, who is standing at the edge of his technical area, pointing at something or someone. It’s a very imperious point.
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33 min: Mata tees up Tuanzebe, who shoots from the edge of the area. His shot is deflected wide.
32 min: Nathan Redmond attempts to thread a pass between Marouane Fellaini and Phil Jones on the edge of the penalty area and there’s a loud appeal for hand-ball as one of them blocks it. Mike Dean is having none of it.
31 min: James Ward-Prowse tries to stand the ball up at the far post for Jack Stephens to knock down or head goalwards, but it’s too high for the central defender and spirals wide.
30 min: Steven Davis tries to play the ball down the right touchline for Tadic to chase, but let’s it run out of play before he can get the ball away. The linesman signals for a throw-in and the Southampton skipper effs and jeffs quietly under his breath.
28 min: Manchester United enjoy a sustained spell of possession but do little with it. That’s not like them, eh? Oh. Demonstrating his trademark subtlety, Marouane Fellaini eventually attempts to blast one from distance, but his effort is blocked.
25 min: Cedric goes down injured after coming out second best from a combined challenge of Marouane Fellaini and Axel Tuanzebe. He’ll live.
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24 min: Dusan Tadic wastes the corner, putting too much welly on it. The ball runs out of play.
23 min: Matt Targett and Nathan Redmond combine well down the left flank, but the ensuing cross is over-cooked. Steven Davis prevents the ball from going out of play on the far side of the pitch and eventually Cedric win a corner after getting forward to takes a weighted pass from Dusan Tadic.
20 min: Henrikh Mikhitarian tries his luck from just outside the penalty area. It’s travelling a couple of feet wide of the upright, but Fraser Forster puts it out for a corner anyway. He’d clearly lost his bearings. Nothing comes of the set piece and Forster has a goal-kick to take.
19 min: James Ward-Prowse takes the free-kick and attempts to curl a right-footed effort into the top left-hand corner. It’s a decent effort that whistles wide, but Sergio Romero seemed to have it covered.
17 min: Maya Yoshida brings the ball out of the Southampton defence and plays it wide to Nathan Redmond. It’s sent back in again and Southampton win a free-kick in the ineisde left position, left of centre about 30 yards from goal.
15 min: In the inside left position, Wayne Rooney takes a ball from deep out of the sky with a deft touch on his instep and plays it into a gaping hole in the centre through which Anthony Martial was running. The French striker drags a low drive wide of the left upright. A poor effort.
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14 min: While there’s no question Eric Bailly handled the ball deliberately to give away the penalty, there is doubt over whether or not he was in the penalty area when he did so. Replays suggest he might have been unlucky, but the only man whose opinion matters decided that he had been in the penalty area.
12 min: My expectations for this match could scarcely have been lower, but it’s already shaping up to be a real belter. If it’s even half as entertaining as the League Cup final between these two sides earlier this year, it’l;l have been a worthwhile exercise.
10 min: Oriol Romeu is penalised and booked for a foul on Henrikh Mikhitarian. Moments previously, Eric Bailly almost atoned for his earlier sin by picking up the ball on the left side of midfield, advancing unopposed before cutting inside and unleashing a shot from the edge of the Southampton penalty area. Fraser Forster saved well.
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7 min: Southampton miss their third penalty in six games, with Manolo Gabbiadini joining a list of shame that includes Dusan Tadic and Shane Long. It was a strange one: under very little pressure, Eric Bailly handled the ball as it dropped into the penalty area from on high. Mike Dean blew his whistle and looked over to his linesman, who didn’t think there’d been any foul. Dean decided to over-rule him and awarded the spot-kick, which Gabbiadini proceeded to miss. It wasn’t a particularly good penalty - he aimed for the bottom left-hand corner, but didn’t get there.
Romero saves!!!
6 min: Sergio Romero gets down to his right, stretching every sinew to tip Manolo Gabbiadini’s low spot-kick around the post for a corner. What an unexpectedly lively start we’ve had.
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PENALTY FOR SOUTHAMPTON
5 min: Mike Dean penalises Eric Bailly for handling a dropping ball just inside his own penalty area. Spot-kick for Southampton.
4 min: He missed the target, see! The target! And his name is Targett!
2 min: Dusan Tadic jinks this way and that to twist Matteo Darmian’s blood before crossing into the Manchester United penalty area. Nathan Redmond’s volley is blocked and the ball breaks to Matt Targett, who proceeds to miss the ... oh, let’s not go there.
Southampton v Manchester United is go ...
1 min: Southampton get the ball rolling on a pitch decorated with nice intersecting circles. Good work groundsman.
Not long now ...
The teams line up in the tunnel at Saint Mary’s, where Southampton have failed to score in their past three games. Wayne Rooney leads out the visitors, who are wearing blue shirts, white shorts and blue socks. Steven Davis does the honours for Southampton as the two sides walk out into a stadium that looks surprisingly well attended.
Jose Mourinho speaks ...
Asked on Sky Sports if he thinks tonight can help his preparations for the Europa League final, he smiles. “No,” he says. “Not really. I would prefer to be working and training and preparing, but we can’t do that. We have two [League] matches to play. I would like to make more changes and to give more players more rest, but I feel obliged to do the same as we did as did against Tottenham and Arsenal and try to get the result.” He goes on to say that tonight can give some players a chance to impress ahead of next Wednesday’s match against Ajax. “For example, if Eric Bailly can’t play, who comes in instead of him: Smalling or Jones?”
An email from Woolie Madden
“We’re in that strange part of the season aren’t we, where you end up with more games than not being almost irrelevant, most teams having settled into their place in the pecking order,” writes Woolie. “The quality of football on offer drops, and fringe players get a chance to huff and puff in front of visibly smaller crowds. Such is the nature of things, I suppose.”
I suppose it is, but you do hear managers trying to big up such games with unconvincing nonsense about acquiring as many points as possible and laying the groundwork for the following season. In some cases there’s also the small matter of winning more money the higher up the table you finish, although Southampton may struggle to bridge the 16-point gap between themselves and Everton with just two games to play. They can, however, put some distance between themselves and West Brom with a win tonight.
Say what you like about Jose Mourinho, but at least he hasn’t tried to pretend Manchester United’s run-in hasn’t been anything other than a complete inconvenience.
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Both managers ring the changes
Claude Puel has made eight changes in personnel from the team that started against Middlesbrough. Out go Jeremy Pied, Jay Rodriguez, Shane Long, Soufiane Boufal, Ryan Bertrand, Martin Caceres, Jordi Clasie and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, while the Frenchman clearly feels Fraser Forster, Maya Yoshida and Oriol Romeu haven’t suffered enough.
Jose Mourinho has made four changes from the United team that lost at Tottenham at White Hart Lane on Sunday. David De Gea, Daley Blind, Jesse Lingard and Michael Carrick have all beenrested; while Sergio Romero, Henrikh Mikhitarian, Marouane Fellaini and Matteo Darmian replace them.
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Southampton v Manchester United line-ups
Southampton: Forster, Cedric, Stephens, Yoshida, Targett, Ward-Prowse, Romeu, Davis, Redmond, Gabbiadini, Tadic.
Subs: Clasie, Rodriguez, Austin, Caceres, Boufal, Pied, Hassen.
Man Utd: Romero, Bailly, Smalling, Jones, Darmian, Fellaini, Tuanzebe, Mkhitaryan, Mata, Rooney, Martial.
Subs: Lingard, Carrick, Rashford, Ander Herrera, Mitchell, McTominay, Joel Pereira.
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)
Greetings sports fans ...
Southampton entertain Manchester United in a midweek fixture neither side will be particularly fussed about ahead of the final round of Premier League fixtures on Sunday. Having stated categorically, on the record, that his focus was on winning the league at the start of the season, Jose Mourinho quickly changed his tune when it became apparent his very expensive team wasn’t anywhere near good enough to win it. Now it’s the Europa League or bust, as he goes all out to win a tournament he couldn’t belittle enough four years ago. “I don’t want to win the Europa League,” he said at the start of his second stint as Chelsea manager. “That would be a big disappointment to me.” After this season’s risible showing in what passed for the title race, we can only hope Ajax do the decent thing and spare him further embarrassment next Wednesday.
Currently in eighth position, a mere 16 points behind Everton in seventh, Southampton ended a run of five matches without a win with victory over already relegated Middlesbrough last time out and could make it two in a row against a second or third string United team this evening. Saints boss Claude Puel has received no assurances about his future and will face an end-of-season review next week before discovering if he’ll remain in charge next season. Kick-off is at 19.45 (BST) but we’ll be here with team news and build-up in the meantime.
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