That’s it for today’s blog. I’ll leave you with Ben Fisher’s report from St Mary’s - bye!

Here’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer “We started off well, got the game exactly where we wanted it, and when that happens we need to finish it off. We weren’t clinical enough.

“Daniel has got a great strike in him; he’s really made an impact for us and I’m delighted for the boy.

“The strange thing about is that our performances in the last three games were better than the one against Chelsea. We’ve dominated the games but we’ve missed some great chances. It’s not a dip in form, it’s a dip in results.”

Here’s Ralph Hassenhuttl “It was our third game of the week and we had 10 men for the last 20 minutes. It’s an unbelievable performance mentally from my team and I can only raise my hat to them.”

There’s plenty more where that soccer action came from. Join Michael Butler for all the 3pm games.

So, the Premier League Crisis Baton™ stays in Manchester United’s hands. There were some plusses, James and Wan-Bissaka in particular, but they are limited in too many area. They need a minimum of two years under the same manager before they will be of potential interest to trophy engravers.

90+5 min Cedric is back on, although he’s unable to run properly.

90+4 min Young is booked for dissent, presumably for suggesting Cedric should get up. He is clearly in a lot of pain. I think James accidentally studded him on the ankle when he messed up that cross. Southampton are down to nine men.

90+3 min James tries to cross, slices it behind for a goalkick with his standing foot and follows through into Cedric. He takes the opportunity to kill some time, though I think he’s genuinely in pain.

90+2 min There will be plenty of criticism for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after this, but it’s worth pointing out that United’s three best players have been his summer signings. He’s trying to do the right things by prioritising youth, and if everyone is patient (they won’t be), I think he’ll be a success at United.

90+1 min Four minutes of added time. Southampton are hanging on desperately.

90 min Greenwood’s cross is headed behind for a corner. United look so much quicker with him as the right-sided attacker.

89 min James’s cross is headed clear from inside the six-yard box by Yoshida, and then Young flashes a blistering shot just wide from 25 yards. That was a lovely effort, reminiscent of his goal against Arsenal in the 8-2 all those years ago.

88 min: Good effort from Greenwood! He marched towards the area, did a couple of stepovers and curled a fine left-footed shot towards the far post that was palmed away by Gunn.

87 min Lingard curls wide from 20 yards.

86 min James plays a neat one-two with Pogba and stabs a lovely cross that flashes across the six-yard box. Moments later, Greenwood goes down in the area and is accused of diving by the Southampton players. There’s a VAR check, and no penalty is given. I thought Armstrong kicked the bottom of Greenwood’s foot, though whether it was a clear and obvious error is debatable. I’d like to see that again.

84 min Lingard surges towards the area, spots Greenwood is in all kinds of space on the right, and wallops the ball straight at Vestergaard.

83 min: Chance for Rashford! Pogba picks up a loose ball 30 yards from goal and slides a pass into the area for Rashford, whose first-time shot from a tightish angle is kicked away by Gunn.

82 min The precocious teenager Mason Greenwood replaces Scott McTominay.

81 min Southampton have parked the bus, understandably so, and there’s no suggestion that United have the wit to break them down. James curls a cross straight out of play.

80 min “Christ, Rob,” says Duncan Edwards. “I’ve watched them since 1966 and I’ve seen more Manchester United passes go straight into touch in this game than the other 53 years.”

How much did it cost to have the last two months of the 1988-89 season expunged from your memory?

79 min Wan-Bissaka’s dangerous cross flashes right across the six-yard box, just too far in front of Rashford.

77 min Ralph Hassenhuttl reconfigures his 10-man team, bringing on the defender Maya Yoshida for Danny Ings.

76 min “At what stage do reporters and pundits stop claiming Pogba is a world class talent and admit that he’s not progressing at all?” says David Flynn. “It’s all well and good being in the Juve midfield beside Pirlo at a time when there was no other competition in Serie A. But he’s very rarely delivered for United with any consistency and to my mind he was the most disposable player in the French attack during the World Cup.”

To be fair to the 26-year-old, he’s got great potential.

75 min A unique one-two from Manchester United. Wan-Bissaka crosses deep towards James, who slices a volley straight back to Wan-Bissaka on the touchline.

74 min Pogba drives a low cross towards James, who moves away from Cedric and hits a stinging left-footed shot that is beaten away by Gunn.

71 min United’s football has been so pedestrian in this half. The absence of Martial doesn’t help, but it’s still not great. Meanwhile, the lively Sofiane Boufal is replaced by Stuart Armstrong.

69 min After a long spell of possession from Manchester United, Nemanja Matic shoots from 25 yards, and that’s the end of that.

69 min “At what point,” says Neill Brown, “does Marcus Rashford leave Utd for a club that matches his talent & ambition?”

Can he join two different clubs at the same time?

68 min A double change for United: Pereira and Mata off, Lingard and Matic on.

66 min Hojbjerg blooters over the bar from distance.

65 min Pogba beats Romeu with a majestic Cruyff turn and slides a nice pass down the side towards Rashford, whose first-time shot is superbly blocked by the lunging Vestergaard.

64 min United are struggling in attack. Mata and James have had their moments, but Rashford, Pereira and Pogba have been poor.

63 min Maguire heads the corner as far as Boufal, whose shot is blocked by McTominay, again with his arms behind his back.

63 min Boufal’s superb cross from the left is headed behind by Young. Ward-Prowse will take the corner...

61 min Southampton make their first change, with Shane Long replacing Che Adams.

60 min “That air shot was by Mata,” says Pete Taylor. “Leave Pereira alone Rob.”

My point exactly.

58 min Southampton are having probably their best spell of the match. And now they’ve scored!

55 min: Adams misses a great chance! After a good move involving Ward-Prowse, Boufal eased an inviting pass across the area to Adams, eight yards from goal. He let the ball run across his body, drew back his right foot... and spanked his shot wide of the near post.

54 min A miserable air shot from Pereira prompts a schadenfreudian roar from the home fans. I’m not sure Pereira is good enough at this level, certainly not as a right-sided attacker.

51 min Manchester United are given a dubious corner when Rashford kicks the ball out of play. Happily for Mike Dean, it doesn’t result in a goal.

50 min Gunn makes an important save from Rashford. He ran onto a very long pass from Lindelof, escaped the covering Bednarek and flicked a close-range shot that was blocked by Gunn.

49 min Ashley Young is limping, which is a blow for one of the teams.

48 min It’s been a very scruffy start to the second half from both sides.

46 min Peep peep! Manchester United get the second half under way.

Half-time reading

45 min Two minutes of added time. Cedric plays a good pass into the area for Ward-Prowse, who is robbed by the diligent James.

44 min United have become sloppy in the last 10 or 15 minutes, and Maguire has started to administer a few polite rollockings.

43 min Rashford ruins a promising break by passing the ball towards James, and straight out of play.

41 min Maguire appeals unsuccessfully for a yellow card after a dive from Adams.

40 min Maguire is booked for a late tackle on Adams. That aside, he’s been excellent, especially in possession.

39 min The mood of this match has changed, and crucially the Southampton crowd have been more involved in the last few minutes.

37 min Ings bursts down the right and cuts a clever, long cross back to Boufal at the far post. He chests it down, moves inside Wan-Bissaka and whips a shot that is excellently blocked by McTominay, who attacked the ball with his arms behind his back so that he couldn’t be penalised for handball.

36 min A better spell for Southampton. Ings shoots well wide from distance, and then Romeu’s long-range shot is blocked.

33 min Boufal tries to run Wan-Bissaka, who matches him for pace and makes a majestic tackle. He looks so good in one-against-one situations.

32 min Mata drags a cross-shot well wide from the edge of the area. Manchester United are still well on top, although that was the case at this stage of their last away game at Wolves.

31 min Vestergaard hoofs a clearance straight into the side of Mike Dean, prompting the biggest cheer of the afternoon so far.

29 min Danso’s long throw is punched away unconvincingly by De Gea and headed further away by Lindelof.

28 min Rashford makes a complete mess of a header, six yards out, from James’s cross. No matter: he’d been flagged offside, rightly this time.

27 min Mata clips another nice pass over the top for Rashford, who bursts down the right and wallops a low cross towards the near post. It’s blocked at the near post and put behind for a corner.

27 min “I agree with Hubert about missing the rivalry with United (although I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t enjoyed some of their post-Fergie travails...), but the problem goes so much deeper than Woodward,” says Matt Dony. “He’s simply not a ‘football man.’ But, he is a businessman, at the head of a massive business empire. In that context, he’s done his job magnificently. We can all laugh at strategic partnerships with dried noodle manufacturers, but they’ve brought in a helluva lot of money. And that’s a large part of his job. It’s astonishing that they still haven’t appointed a Director of Football, though, to take the football issues away from Woodward.”

Yes, all evidence suggests he’s a genius at that side of the job. And in the current climate at Old Trafford, that is more important than the pesky football.

26 min Mata is having a good game. He’s a very different No10 to Jesse Lingard, and there have been some typical, understated touches of class.

24 min “I remember attending an AC Milan-Juventus match many years ago,” says Giuseppe Donati. “Pogba was a sensation at the time and I was just curious. What I saw back then was a player roaming on the left, quite high on the pitch, mainly moving with the ball and not without, trying to shoot every single time. The feeling was of an arrogant player, deeming himself better than a central midfielder that has to run and tackle. I believe that Mourinho didn’t like his ‘number 10’ mindset either. It would be interesting to know stats about how many kms Pogba runs and balls he shoots into the crowd, versus for example the amazing Eriksen, who runs like mad and still provides quality.”

One of the odd things about Pogba is that he hardly ever shoots anymore. If I had that massive sweet spot below my right ankle, I’d be blootering it towards goal from all angles.

22 min Rashford finds James in the D. He gets the ball out of his feet and whacks a rising, curling shot that is slapped away by Gunn. It was a relatively comfortable save, but another good strike from James.

21 min Southampton started well but they’ve been a mess in the last few minutes. The groaning has started among the home supporters.

19 min Danso is booked for a foul on Pereira.

18 min The influential Mata hooks a lovely pass to Wan-Bissaka, who overhits his cross. Moments later, Wan-Bissaka leathers a volley just over the bar. It wouldn’t have counted as he’d been wrongly flagged offside. In fact, that’s one of the worst offside decisions since the days of Nicola Berti.

16 min United have passed the ball with more confidence since the goal, James in particular. Their possession play can be too ponderous, though I’m sure that will improve once Solskjaer gets the midfield he wants.

13 min James plays a one-two with Mata and tries another shot from just outside the area. He doesn’t time this season and it dribbles through to Gunn.

McTominay found James in a lot of space on the left. He moved into the area, shifted the ball onto his right foot and slammed it into the far top corner. The defending was poor - Cedric was distracted by Mata’s off-the-ball run - but it was a blistering finish.

10 min A half-chance for United. Mata eases a pass to Pereira on the edge of the area; he shoots first time but a defender, Bednarek I think, takes the sting out of the shot and it dribbles through to Gunn.

10 min Boufal tries a scissor-kick from a tight angle, screwing it across the face of goal. Southampton are on top.

9 min “This may sound like random grenade throwing, but in all seriousness what does Ed Woodward have to do in order to get fired?” says Hubert O’Hearn. “Three more than competent managers in a row hired and fired, and leave us face it, if I were Ole I’d rent instead of buying. As a Liverpool fan I miss our old enemy being a threat to win the League and I just don’t see that ever happening with Woodhead, er, Woodward there.”

If the number of worldwide followers drops below 650 million, he’s toast.

8 min Boufal receives the ball 25 yards from goal, moves forward and drives a low shot this far wide of the far post. That was a lovely effort.

5 min Wan-Bissaka plays a poor pass to Adams just outside the area. Lindelof cleans up the mess. It’s been a vigorous start from Southampton, who are a hard team to beat at St Mary’s if you’re not Liverpool, or Cardiff.

4 min James scoots down the left and hits a low cross that is deflected towards Rashford at the near post. He is about to flick the ball towards goal when Vestegaard makes a fine tackle.

2 min Southampton press United’s first goalkick, forcing De Gea to go long.

1 min Peep peep!

“Solskjaer played in the infamous grey kit game at the Dell,” says the BT Sport commentator. Wrong! He did come on in the 6-3 defeat though.

“If United really are going to embrace the ‘Crisis’, they may as well do it in style,” says Matt Dony. “Grey shirts? Or a 6-3 loss? Soundtracked by an era-appropriate Slight Return, or something.”

The odd thing about those three consecutive defeats at the Dell is that the one that really mattered is the one nobody remembers.

The players are in the tunnel, their gamefaces have been applied. It’s time for some football.

“Now,” says Aslan Greer, “I understand how France won the World Cup: by playing 4-3-3-1.”

N’Golo Kante, innit.

“What I don’t understand is why no-one seems to try Pogba as a No10,” says Richie Patterson. “He’s obviously amazing on the ball, has a killer pass and scores goals. None of which he can do if he’s having to tackle back as part of a Dm two. Imagine him receiving the ball just behind Martial, Rashford and James and setting them free without having to worry about defensive duties. Fred can then fit in on the left, next to McTom, in his natural position...”

I’m not sure. Isn’t his long passing his greatest strength? I agree 4-2-3-1 isn’t ideal either. The best system for Pogba is 4-3-3, or the 4-3-3-1 that France used at the World Cup.

“Hi Rob,” says Duncan Edwards. “It’s ironic that after missing consecutive penalties United now face Southampton - the club of arguably the greatest penalty taker of our lifetimes.”

But which one?

Pre-match reading