The expression “pay for the broken dishes“It falls short to define what Southampton suffered yesterday. United had lost the lead in favor of their neighbors after the defeat against Sheffield United and the draw against Arsenal and Solskjaer went to Old Trafford with the certainty that Guardiola’s were not going to allow them to continue scoring points. Lesson learned from the red devils who not only won, but fully entered the history of the Premier League.
A cyclone named United
There are many records that were broken yesterday at Old Trafford and in these lines we are going to try to collect them all (Sources: Opt Y Mister Chip). First of all, 9-0 means equal the biggest win in Premier League history. Is the third time a team has won by a goal difference of 9 or higher after Manchester United 9-0 Ipswich Town – Andy Cole’s stellar night with five goals – and Southampton 0-9 Leicester that occurred last season. Gone are the 8-0 achieved by himself Southampton, the Chelsea (twice) and the Newcastle against Sunderland, Aston Villa, Wigan and Sheffield Wednesday respectively.
Widening the focus and also looking at la extinta First Division (1888-1992), the game against the Saints is the third biggest beating of the red devils in first division, along with the aforementioned Ipswich Town in 1995 and a 10-1 endorsed the Wolves more than a century ago, in 1892. On two other occasions the team went 9-0, but they came in the English second division.
One factor that makes this game an even bigger “rare bird” is the fact that only one player, Martial (2), scored more than one goal. Not counting Jan Bednarek’s own goal -the third of the match- this was lfor the second time there were seven different scorers from the same team in the history of the Premier League. The precedent belongs to Chelsea in the aforementioned 8-0 against Aston Villa in 2012. But it is that if the own goal is counted, is the first time in United’s lifetime that they have eight different scorers in the same game.
One of the few records that Solskjaer’s men missed is the record for the highest goal difference in an English Premier League clash. That brand is owned by West Brom and Nottingham Forest, both 12-0 against Darwen in 1892 and Leicester in 1909 respectively.
Return to the elite through the front door
The long desert traveled after the departure of Ferguson – with only small oases found in the Mourinho stage – the red devils have returned this season to fight for the top of English football. Bruno Fernandes was the missing piece in the scheme and after many years United is one of the main favorites to sit on the throne of the Premier.
The main asset of the team is the enormous potential it keeps from three quarters of a field. Are the top scorers in the Premier and with yesterday’s game they made their current campaign beat some records at the club level. It’s the first time that score six or more goals in two games -previously 6-2 against Leeds- in the same season since 2000/01 Y four or more goals in the first half in two games of the same season from 1997-98. The effectiveness of this United’s attack is, this year, worthy of the team’s history.
It was also a special night for Bruno Fernandes. The Portuguese is being one of those signings that changes the course of a club and yesterday became 3rd fastest player to 15 assists in Premier League. Bruno achieved it in 36 games while Eric Cantona and Dimitri Payet did it in 33. The statistics of Luke Shaw who got yesterday the same assists (two) in the first half as those achieved in their last 45 games from Premier.
Southampton hell
In a match, inevitably, the success of one team means the failure of the other. If United lived in paradise, Southampton de Hasenhüttl -which was being one of the revelations- he lowered in a single blow to the hell. The dark night personifies her to perfection Alexandre jankewitz. The 19-year-old made his debut as a starter after having played one minute against Villa and entered directly into the black history of the Premier being the fastest player sent off. 81 seconds lasted in the field, five less than Gareth McAuley who held the record in a City-West Brom in 2015. Jankewitz left the game without ever touching the ball.
Incredibly, it is not the first time that the bulk of the staff experienced such humiliation. Last season, Leicester endorsed them a 0-9 That was a before and after for the team to react and close the year with good feelings. This second win makes the Saints the first team in all of England’s history to lose by nine goals or more at home and away. Besides being the first to 128 years to receive two beatings of nine goals or more in a period of time less than two years. It hadn’t happened since Darwen lost 12-0 and 9-0 in April 1892 and December 1893.
Counting the game of the first round that ended with a 2-3 in favor of United, Southampton enters another black chapter. Specifically with 12 goals equals the record for the most goals scored by one team against another in the same season of the Premier League. Nottingham Forest (1995/96), Wigan (2009/10) and Watford (2019/20) had previously been seen by Blackburn Rovers, Tottenham and City respectively.
Finally, in this story the captain also sank her with his ship. James Ward-Prowse, one of the stars of the team, was the only player who was on the field for the 18 goals received in the two historic wins.
Undoubtedly, a night that is part of the history of the Premier League and that can remain as a small asterisk in the United and Saints season but that can also be a before and after by elevating a team to the next step and sinking another to the lower positions of the table.
