Barclays Premier League

ROONEY TO THE RESCUE FOR UNITED

A first half Wayne Rooney double secured a 2-1 win for Manchester United at Old Trafford after the Red Devils had gone behind to plucky Southampton. Despite dominating the first half, the hosts found their backs against the wall as their opponents pressed hard after the break. Michael Carrick had been left with egg on his face in the third minute as the midfielder's poor backpass was seized upon by Jay Rodriguez, who rounded David de Gea to open the scoring. The lead was short-lived, however, as Wayne Rooney converted Shinji Kagawa's ninth-minute pass and struck again in the 27th minute to make it 2-0. United created several more chances in the first half, with Robin van Persie wasteful, but it was all to change after half time. Mauricio Pochettino boldly brought on Adam Lallana and Steve Davis, and the Saints proceeded to outplay United for the entire 45 minutes. They were desperately unlucky not to score with one of several efforts from Rodriguez and Rickie Lambert, although Van Persie did have a goal disallowed for offside at the other end. This was a vital victory for United, who yet again overcame adversity to extend their lead at the top of the table to seven points. Southampton can be extremely proud of their performance and look like they want to play for Pochettino. On today's evidence he'll be a resounding success.

FULL TIME MANCHESTER UNITED 2 SOUTHAMPTON 1

It's all over at Old Trafford as United hang on by their fingertips. 2-1 is the final score.

LAST CHANCE

Rickie Lambert manages to find some space on the right flank and fires in a cross towards Jay Rodriguez, who meets it with a firm header that flies wide of the target.

PRESSURE COOKER

The atmosphere is cranking up here at Old Trafford as we enter the final few minutes and Southampton refuse to give up the ghost. This really has been a spirited effort by the visitors.

BRAVE BLOCK

Luke Shaw's superb run takes the full back to the edge of the area, where he lays it off to Schneiderlin. The Frenchman tries an early shot that's bravely blocked by the leaping Nemanja Vidic. Shaw has been impressive since coming on for Danny Fox 20 minutes ago.

YELLOW CARD

Rafael cynically tugs back Lallana and is shown a yellow card for his troubles.

HAT-TRICK DENIED

Rooney looks set to complete his hat-trick as the striker runs onto a clever pass over the top of a static Saints defence from Michael Carrick. An uncharacteristically heavy touch allows Boruc to close the ground and get a foot in to deny the frustrated frontman.

YELLOW CARD

Lee Mason shows Vidic a yellow card for hauling down Lallana.

GOAL DISALLOWED

Robin van Persie is foiled twice; first the Dutchman gets ahead of the ball-watching Clyne to head for goal at the back post, only to be denied by a stunning save by the flying Artur Boruc. Moments after that the irrepressible Van Persie sticks the ball in the net from Rooney's low cross, but the striker is rightly adjudged to have been offside.

SUBSTITUTION

Kagawa makes way for Nani. The United fans are feeling generous tonight and give the departing man another round of applause.

TAME FROM WAYNE

Wayne Rooney, who hasn't been in the game for a while, dribbles along the outside of the area before sending in a low shot that fails to trouble the goalkeeper.

SUBSTITUTION

Sir Alex Ferguson brings Rafael da Silva on for Anderson, moving Phil Jones into the centre of midfield as the Brazilian takes up his normal position at right back.

NOWHERE NEAR

Lambert chests the ball down to Jay Rodriguez, who hammers a shot into the stands from some distance.

VITAL INTERCEPTION

Anderson dribbles through the middle of the park and tries the slide-rule pass through to Kagawa, only for Maya Yoshida to read it perfectly and intercept with an outstretched boot.

SUBSTITUTION

Despite having a poor game so far, Smalling gets a round of applause as the centre back is withdrawn in favour of Rio Ferdinand, who takes on board a lengthy set of instructions from his boss before eventually taking to the pitch.

BUTTERFINGERS

After Adam Lallana is fouled, Lambert steps up to take the resulting free kick. It's chipped over the wall and straight into De Gea's midriff, but the hapless keeper spills what should be a simple save very nearly into the path of Lallana. In the end Chris Smalling is able to hoof the ball clear.

SLOPPY PLAY

The hosts give the ball away twice in a minute, the latter allowing Lambert to fire in a low cross that Steve Davis pokes narrowly wide of the back post.

SAINTS SHOUTING

Somehow the travelling supporters are making more noise than the vast swathes of home fans right now. Nathaniel Clyne is the latest man to fire them up, powering past Welbeck down the flank before the United man gets a desperate toe in to concede a corner.

SOUTHAMPTON DOMINATING

The visitors continue to press as Lambert swipes a shot well wide from 20 yards. United look all over the place at the moment as they struggle to cope with the onslaught.

BLOCKED OFF

Jay Rodriguez shows some impressive pace to beat Vidic to the ball on the left wing. The Serb, not taking kindly to coming off second best, throws his body forward to block the Southampton man's cross.

SAINTS CHARGE OUT OF THE BLOCKS

The Saints have made a positive start to the half. Jack Cork plays the ball up to Rodriguez on the 18-yard line, the forward seeing his snapshot blocked by Vidic. The ball drops fortuitously to Rickie Lambert, whose half-volley is caught by the diving David de Gea.

SECOND HALF

The teams are back out and the second half is underway. Southampton have made two changes at half time, replacing Ramirez with Adam Lallana, who has just returned from injury, and Puncheon with Steve Davis.

ROONEY RIGHTS CARRICK'S WRONG

United reasserted their dominance in style after falling behind to an early Jay Rodriguez goal to enter the break 2-1 up. That strike came after just three minutes when Michael Carrick's weak backpass sold David de Gea short and Rodriguez nipped in to score. The hosts were indignant and soon redressed the balance with a ninth minute Wayne Rooney strike, the England man converting Shinji Kagawa's chipped pass. With their confidence up, the chances began to flow and Rooney taped in his second in the 27th minute. After that the game became more even; Robin van Persie squandered a brace of chances, but Southampton could have equalised when Rickie Lambert just failed to connect at the back post. They are still very much in this game, so Sir Alex can't afford to relax just yet.

HALF TIME MANCHESTER UNITED 2 SOUTHAMPTON 1

The whistle rings out for half time and 'Glory Glory Man United' blares out over the speakers as the players troop down the tunnel.

YELLOW CARD

The first booking of the game goes to Morgan Schneiderlin for tugging back the sprinting Phil Jones and then petulantly kicking the ball away. Van Persie curls the free kick in again to the back post, where the unmarked Chris Smalling is unable to climb high enough to head it goalwards.

LAMBERT INCHES AWAY

Danny Fox's corner finds its way through to the back post, where Lambert stretches but can't quite reach the loose ball. In fairness, the striker did have the formidable Nemanja Vidic breathing down his neck.

SIMPLE SAVE

An ambitious 30-yard drive by Rooney is comfortably gathered by Boruc.

SUPER SKILLS

Van Persie's flick finds Danny Welbeck inside the box, the forward showing terrific skill to drag the ball past his marker and force a top diving save from Boruc, who stopped the ball with his legs.

SAINTS CHOP AND CHANGE

Mauricio Pochettino seems to have shuffled his pack in an effort to find his way back into this game. Gaston Ramirez has dropped back into the midfield anchor role, with Mogan Schneiderlin taking up a more advanced position and Jason Puncheon and Jay Rodriguez swapping wings.

BORN SLIPPY

Some fast footwork from Puncheon creates a yard of space from Jay Rodriguez, who slips as he shapes to shoot just outside the box. The forward's effort is easily cut out by the alert Evra.

UNITED ON SONG

United are running riot now. An excellent move sees Rooney and Kagawa exchange passes before setting up Robin van Persie, who cuts inside from the left to send a drive wide of the target from the edge of the area.

LONG-RANGE EFFORT

Patrice Evra carries the ball halfway up the pitch as the visitors stand off, eventually smashing a shot high and wide from all of 35 yards.

GOAL!!! MANCHESTER UNITED

Van Persie's free kick is bent to the back post, where the unmarked Patrice Evra heads it back across goal and WAYNE ROONEY appears in the right place at the right time to finish from point-blank range. That's two tonight and twelve this season for Rooney.

DANGER AVERTED

Rooney's low cross following a clever dummy is only just reached by the sprawling Boruc, the ball running just the other side of the onrushing Van Persie.

UNLUCKY DEFLECTION

Van Persie picks the ball up on the edge of the area and dummies to bamboozle the entire defence. The Dutchman goes for goal, only to see his effort spin up off Maya Yoshida's trailing foot and drop harmlessly onto the roof of the net.

POWER PLAY

Some forceful play from Wayne Rooney sees the England striker barrel past two defenders, but eventually Danny Fox gets a foot in to send the ball spinning back to Artur Boruc.

INTO ROW Z

Nemanja Vidic knocks Rodriguez over just outside the box, giving the visitors another free kick. This time it's Gaston Ramirez who takes it, getting right underneath the ball to send it hurtling high over the bar.

DODGY DECISION

Robin van Persie fires in a free kick from the left and finds Anderson at the near post, the Brazilian's header bouncing off Jason Puncheon and out. Despite the obvious deflection, the assistant referee inexplicably gives a goal kick.

WALL STANDS FIRM

The Saints win a free kick 35 yards from goal, and Rickie Lambert instantly comes running over to size it up. The skipper's right-footed effort flicks up off Kagawa in the wall and bounces out for a corner kick.

OFF THE POST

Phil Jones charges up the right flank and whips in a low cross. Everyone in the penalty area misses it except for Shinji Kagawa, who takes a swipe at the back post and sees his shot slam off the inside of the upright.

GOAL!!! MANCHESTER UNITED

Carrick atones for his earlier mistake by finding Kagawa with an excellent forward pass, the latter flicking the ball over the top of the defence for WAYNE ROONEY, who strides through to slot past the stranded Boruc. United will be grateful for that goal, as Southampton were starting to settle in for a sustained rearguard action.

QUICK REACTIONS

The Red Devils try to hit back quickly as Wayne Rooney slips a clever pass through to Shinji Kagawa. The Japanese playmaker just loses out as Artur Boruc sprints from his line to divert the ball out for a corner.

GOAL!!! SOUTHAMPTON

Nobody was expecting that start! Michael Carrick, who has been in such good form recently, sells David de Gea short with a horrible backpass and JAY RODRIGUEZ nips in to intercept. The forward has the composure to take the ball around the United keeper and tap home into an empty net.

KICK OFF

Referee Lee Mason blows the whistle to get tonight's Barclays Premier League clash underway here at Old Trafford.

JOSTLING FOR POSITION

Following Manchester City's draw against struggling QPR last night, United will be looking to take maximum points from this game, a result that would stretch their lead at the top of the table to seven points. A reverse by the Saints, unlikely as it may sound, could see the newly promoted side jump three places.

LINE-UPS ANNOUNCED

Sir Alex has picked an attacking line-up for tonight's game, pairing Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie up front and also including Danny Welbeck and Shinji Kagawa, while Anderson starts in midfield. Phil Jones is at right back, with Chris Smalling coming in for the benched Rio Ferdinand. Mauricio Pochettino has given Luke Shaw a rest, replacing the youngster with Danny Fox, while Jay Rodriguez comes in for the injured Guly do Prado.

SOUTHAMPTON TEAM NEWS

Adam Lallana is available for selection once again after missing two months with knee ligament damage, while Vegard Forren could make his debut. Jose Fonte and Guly do Prado have both both been ruled out due to knee problems.

MANCHESTER UNITED TEAM NEWS

Jonny Evans and Ashley Young miss out with hamstring and knee injuries respectively, but Robin van Persie could be restored to the starting line-up.

ONE TO WATCH

Phil Jones has had a tough time with injuries this season but has finally forced his way back into the United first team and is ready to stake his claim as the club's new defensive mainstay. The 20–year-old can play in a variety of positions but has stated that he feels centre back is his best, an opinion Sir Alex Ferguson appears to share. Will he get the chance to show it tonight?

FORREN CALLS ON SOLSKJAER

Southampton's new Norwegian centre back Vegard Forren has told of how his links with former Man United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could help in the build-up to tonight's clash. The £4.2million signing played under Solskjaer at Molde and has huge respect for his former gaffer, saying "I might call Ole for advice. It meant everything for me to work under a great coach and I took big steps because of him".

FERGUSON CHARGED

The FA have decided to charge Sir Alex Ferguson for comments the United manager made about assistant referee Simon Beck following a contentious penalty decision in the recent draw with Tottenham. The governing body felt Fergie's words implied bias in the official, and he has until 4pm on Friday to respond to the charges.

REF WATCH

Tonight's referee is Lee Mason, a man who doesn't take too much nonsense judging by his average of 3.29 bookings shown per match so far this campaign. Both sides will need to show good behaviour, as this is the time of season when suspensions can mount up.

MANCHESTER UNITED V SOUTHAMPTON

League leaders Manchester United aim to further strengthen their stranglehold on the Barclays Premier League table tonight as the Red Devils play host to Southampton at Old Trafford. United come off the back of yet another victory, this one over Fulham in the FA Cup at the weekend, and look to have finally hit something approaching top form. Naturally, then, tonight's match represents a big test for the Saints, who are still adjusting to life under new boss Mauricio Pochettino following the controversial dismissal of Nigel Adkins less than a fortnight ago. The Argentine's first and only game in charge was a decent draw with high-fliers Everton in which the players put i nthe hard yards, so we may yet see good things under the new regime. A win over the top brass would go a long way towards proving that.