Southampton

01 K Davies 02 Clyne 05 Hooiveld 06 Fonte 13 Fox 04 Schneiderlin 08 S Davies 16 Ward- Prowse 20 Lallana (Rodriguez 78') 42 Puncheon (Mayuka 74') 07 Lambert (Guly 75)

Manchester United
13 Lindegaard 02 Rafael 03 Evra 05 Ferdinand 15 Vidic 07 Valencia 16 Carrick 23 Cleverley (Scholes 61) 26 Kagawa (Nani 61) 19 Welbeck (Hernandez 71) 20 Van Persie

Subs:
12 Gazzaniga 22 Richardson 25 Seaborne 21 Guly 09 Rodriguez 19 Lee 24 Mayuka

Subs:
01 De Gea 06 Evans 11 Giggs 17 Nani 22 Scholes 14 Hernandez 25 Powell

Live Report:
0- We are off at St. Marys. 1- Manchester United win the first corner. 2- Danny Fox concedes a free-kick after a late tackle on Rafael. Van Persie takes, the ball rebounds to fall at the feet of Rafael whose shot is closed down. 4- Van Persie is found and has a delightful flick, which Rafael cannot quite reach. Man United dominating the early minutes. 5- Van Persie gets the first chance, Carrick plays the ball over the top. Van Persie brings it down on his chest and volleys wide of the post. 10- A glimpse of Lamberts areal ability but the header, coming from a Puncheon cross, couldnt challenge Lindegaard in the United goal. 12- Southampton get a corner, Southampton are playing mainly down the right hand side. A well worked right corner came to Lallana, who cant direct it goalwards dragging it wide of the far post. 15- Schneiderlin has a swing with his left foot from way out, the ball flies over the bar. 16- GOAL! Rickie Lambert has scored! Kagawa got caught on the ball by Schneiderlin and plays it out wide to Puncheon who crosses in for Lambert to head past Lindegaard. 1-0 to Southampton. 19- Southampton are playing good football, with Puncheon cutting in off the wing and playing around the Manchester United players. 20- Davies parries the ball out for a corner from a Kagawa shot. Van Persie takes, Lambert using his head at the other end to clear. 23- GOAL! Van Persie scores a trademark finish. The ball comes out to Valencia; unfortunately Clyne slips over allowing Van Persie, who had pulled off round the back, to strike the ball well into the bottom left hand corner. 1-1. 25- A good response from Southampton. Lallana plays the ball into the area; the ball is blocked out to Lambert who drills a left footed effort just wide of the post. 27- Van Persie shots from outside the area, trying to bend it into the far corner but the ball goes way over. 28- Welbeck is brought down right on the edge of the area, dangerous position for a free-kick! Van Persie takes it, he tries to dink it around the wall but cant get enough bend on it and it goes wide. 32- Ward-Prowse drives through the middle to see his left footed effort drift past the post. 34- Lallana has a shot that trickles just past the post. 35- Free-kick awarded to Southampton. Vidic tries to win the header but by coming through the back of Lambert who stood his ground. 37- Lallana fouls Cleverley inside the Southampton half. 39- Patrice Evra comes from the back to have a good header saved by Davies after another slip by Clyne. 45- One minute of additional time to be played. 45+1- The referee brings to an end an engrossing first half.

45- The second half is underway. 47- Lambert given offside. 49- Van Persie lays the ball off to Kagawa who cuts inside and cant quite get his left footed shot on target from outside the box. 50- Puncheon get the opportunity to come inside onto his favoured left foot and drills a shot, but well blocked by Carrick. 52- Vidic fouls Lambert. 54- A terrible pass by Kelvin Davies which goes straight to Valencia who plays a square ball across the box to Van Persie who slices the ball well wide. 55- GOAL! Southampton are back in the lead. Near enough an identical goal to the opener, this time Schneiderlin comes in from the other side and heads it into the far left hand corner, leaving Lindegaard no chance. 58- Puncheon comes back in on his left foot only to cut back again leaving Evra for dead and shooting at the near post. Lindegaard parries away for a corner. 60- Great ball by Ward-Prowse received by Fox who passes to Lallana, but his shot doesnt worry Lindegaard. 61- Double substitution for Manchester United. Nani comes on for Kagawa and Scholes on for Cleverley. 61- Scholes in the thick of the action immediately, threading a ball through to Van Persie who shots making Davies save well to his left. 63- Southamptons front three of Lallana, Lambert and Puncheon are causing the United back four issues. 67- Lambert breaks the offside trap and tries to play the ball across for Ward-Prowse for a tap in. Man United manage to clear the ball. 68- PENALTY! Davies gives the ball away again putting his team under pressure, and then Hooiveld comes through the back of Van Persie to give Man United a penalty and himself a yellow card. 68- SAVED! Van Persie tried the Pirlo chipping the ball down the middle; Davies, making up for his error leading to the goal, palms the ball away for a corner. Southampton are let off the hook then! 70- Van Persie trying to atone for his penalty miss, has a shot on his right foot from the corner of the box but blazes wide. 71- Hernandez comes on for Welbeck. 74- Puncheon goes off for a debut for Mayuka. Puncheon has been very good today, causing all sorts of issues down the right. 75- Lambert also comes off for Guly Do Prado. 78- Rodriguez comes on for Lallana. Southampton has changed their front three now. More pass which could be crucial on the break with United no doubt putting more pressure on in the coming minutes. 80- Free-kick to Southampton, Rafael challenges Rodriguez from behind easing the pressure on Southampton. 84- All Manchester United at the moment. The only touches Southampton are getting is to hoof the ball clear.

85- Hernandez gets up very well to win a header but he cant direct it goalwards. 86- Hernandez brakes through but before he can pull the trigger back Clyne puts in a fantastic tackle. 87- GOAL! Its been coming, Manchester United score! Rafael crosses for Ferdinand to head but it comes back off the upright, only to fall at the feet of Robin Van Persie who tucks it away to make up for the penalty miss. 88- Southampton win a corner after a good strike from Rodriguez hits Ferdinand on the head. The delivery from Ward- Prowse is fantastic and Vidic does just enough to put the Hooiveld off heading the ball in. 90- Hernandez brings the ball down well to shoot wide. 90- Four minutes of added time announced. 90+2- GOAL! Van Persie with a goal bringing up his hat-trick! No-one was picking Van Persie up from the corner and he headed over the desperate Kelvin Davies. Manchester United has done this so many times over the Premiership years. 90+4- And thats it! Van Persie with the hat-trick breaking Southampton hearts.

Match Report:
Robin Van Persies dramatic extra time header rescues Manchester Uniteds blushes with late winner and breaks Southampton hearts. The game started well for United, with Southampton hardly touching the ball inside the first 10 minutes. Southamptons main threat in the early stages was coming down the right-hand side, with Jason Puncheon causing Man Uniteds defence issues. This was proved when in the 16th minute Kagawa was caught on his feet in the midfield having the ball pinched off his by Schneiderlin playing it out to Puncheon who used Lamberts areal advantage, crossing a ball for the big centre-forward to head home past Lindegaard. United werent behind for long though. Van Persie netted his first in the 23rd minute after a costly slip by Southampton defender Nathaniel Clyne allowing Van Persie to pull off at the far left hand post, before bringing it down on his chest and tucking home a trademark Van Persie finish on the half volley into the bottom right-hand corner. Southamptons front three of Lambert, Puncheon and Lallana were fantastic all game, putting pressure on the experienced and classy United backline. United again went behind after a near identical goal from Southampton bar being on the other side. This time Schneiderlin headed home from a Lambert cross. Southampton keeper Kelvin Davies was making several unforced errors, trying to play the ball out of defence. This handed Man United a lifeline, with United winning the ball and playing it to Van Persie who was rashly tackled from behind by Hooiveld in the penalty area, giving Dean no option but to point for the spot. Van Persie stepped up to take the penalty. Davies, however, made up for his initial error by saving after RvP tried the Pirlo trick of chipping it over the goalkeeper. Davies managed to raise a hand and palm away from danger. It was perhaps looking like Southamptons day with United missing chances they would normally take. United were putting severe pressure on Southampton in the closing stages, and this proved worthwhile as in the 87th minute Rio Ferdinand was up and won a header inside the box, the ball came back off the post and landed at the feet of Van Persie who had a tap in to partially make up for his earlier penalty miss. The turn-around was complete in the second minute of additional time, when Southampton failed to clear a corner and allowing Van Persie a free header at the near post, glancing the ball over the desperate Davies head.

Southampton can deem themselves unlucky, and put in a very good performance despite walking away with nothing. The south coast club has now lost 3-2 to both Manchester clubs despite leading 2-1 in both. Southampton manager Nigel Adkins could take a number of positives out of the game and said: "For a newly-promoted club we have scored two goals in open play against a Manchester United side packed full of experience. [Rickie] Lambert had an exceptional game; Jason Puncheon had a superb game, as did Adam Lallana. "I thought they had worked very hard and we made the substitutions to bring more energy into the side. [But] you get punished at the highest level."