Saints continued their unbeaten run at Old Trafford and came from behind to earn a well deserved point in a game that saw them have to work hard against a United side with plenty of talent but lacking work ethic.

Ralph Hasenhuttl kept an unchanged team from the great win at Spurs on Wednesday, but Tino Livramento did come back into the squad and was named on the bench.

United are in the middle of a crisis, but for them that means being 5th in the league and worrying about not being in the Champions League, they still have plenty of talent, but the chink in their armour is that although they love to showboat they don't like to role up their sleeves and graft.

In the early exchanges they could have scored earlier than the 21st minute in which they did open their account, put bluntly we lacked organisation and on several occasions we piled forward but left ourselves open at the back and only some desperate defending and good fortune meant that they didn't score.

But on 21 minutes we ran out of luck, once again an early ball caught us short at the back as they broke quickly, crossed and Sancho slotted home from close range, at this point things didn't look good.

But as at Spurs we dug in and got a foothold in the game, we created chances and looked good going forward, but at the back we were in a bit of disarray.

For some reason Oriol Romeu appeared to be playing in the centre of a back three with Jan Bednarek & Mohammed Salisu with both Romain Perraud & KWP wing backs, but although we looked good going forward we kept getting caught.

At half time a change was made, off went Bednarek and on came Jack Stephens and we reverted to 4 at the back with Romeu restored to the midfield, it paid dividends almost immediately, Che Adams was played through and slotted home with a clinical finish to send the Saints fans behind the goal ecstatic.

But in truth the marking at the back was still terrible and we had to rely on the linesman, VAR, Fraser Forster and some dogged defending to make sure that we stayed on level terms, we had our chances, but so did United and Forster was probably the man of the match for a string of good saves.

But it was still a good performance from Saints for the way we stuck with it, Ralph made substitutions at the right time and we kept our shape, we could have won it ourselves, but make no bones about it, Fraser Forster was the busier of the two keepers.

Saints will feel miffed that United finished the game with 10 men, Pogba argued with the ref after receiving a yellow card and from the way he was haranguing the ref should have had another, a punch was thrown at James Ward Prowse, yet the offender stayed on the pitch and then Harry Maguire appeared to firstly push Armando Broja over in the penalty area and then stamp on the players leg, yet the referee and seemingly VAR saw nothing in it.

Then there was the bizarre offside decision that took minutes to decide, yet the footage showed 5 United players all off side and not even being close to being on, God knows what they were thinking.

Sometimes you have to have a bit of luck though, we deserved it for the way we battled and kept going, but it was a day things went for us, on another day they won't.

Some great performances, Fraser Forster was my man of the match, he looked back to his best and made some top draw saves, in the outfield Armando Broja gets all the headlines, but his 6 goals are matched by Che Adams half dozen scored in less games, Adams has always been the unsung hero, but he is a quality striker and looks set to hit double figures this season.

This side has spirit, it is getting better all the time, it is still missing something, but hopefully that will be addressed in the summer, in the meantime we just need to enjoy watching a team that is blossoming and playing some good football and you never know what might happen, let's just enjoy the ride.

This verdict seems a little harsh, those at the game certainly felt that the team had put in a good performance and they were right, but we are still a work in progress and need to learn from each and every game.

A few short months ago some were calling for the head of Ralph Hasenhuttl and tipping us for relegation, that has changed, now everyone is starting to see what we are trying achieve and as the club's official twitter account said "Well it went a little bit better than last year"

Photo: Action Images

Saintsforeverj added 21:25 - Feb 13 I was at the game and I agree with your verdict. Saints weren't quite at the same top notch level as at Spurs but that was to be expected. We still played very well and got a point. I agree FF was man of the match. That save at the end was special and he earned us a point with that last minute save. I also agree that the team isn't the finished article yet, it is missing that little bit of magic or something, but as you say, let's see what happens in the summer transfer market. Overall, a great week for Saints and let's see how high we can finish in the league.

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SaintNick added 21:31 - Feb 13 I said at the beginning of the three game run of Man City, Spurs and United, that if we got 1 point out of 9 we would be doing well, we have got 5 and gone from looking over our shoulder to being in the top 10, we now need to win the games coming up and push on
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landsdownsaint added 23:20 - Feb 13 Good article as allways only thing I’m not sure about in the “we are still lacking something ? The style Ralph plays & the players we have which some are still very raw I expect it not too be perfect but these players will end up the finished article ( Salisu , Broja , KWP, Tino etc ,I don’t think we need to bring anyone in ,Ralph just needs too keep doing what he’s doing with what he’s got , it’s a real pleasure too watch these lads atm , i like the Hassenhutl way “ allways have !… that save from FF yesterday was up with the best maybe Salisu’s attitude is rubbing off on him? Having Vestergaard & Bertram in front of you couldn’t have been much fun

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HythePeer added 02:05 - Feb 14 We won! won all!
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JoeEgg added 06:00 - Feb 14 So many talking points and an excellent summary from Nick. Hardly surprising that we needed more than our fair share of luck against a United team with such talented forwards! Hats off yet again to Fraser Forster who has to be our number one keeper by some distance. Broja can be selfish at times but that's not necessarily a bad thing for a striker and the way he terrorised Maguire was a major factor in earnng us a well deserved point - he also clearly brings out the best in Che Adams. It is worth commenting for sure that just recently we have once again become a team that is great to watch. Fast exciting football with a high press and enormous enthusiasm. Credit to Ralph for much of this and it will be interesting to watch the progress of our young squad for the rest of the season!

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underweststand added 06:07 - Feb 14 Agree with much of your article (Nick). Certainly FF was MoM in my book, despite Ché Adams' fortuitous finish in off the far post, but sadly Stuart Armstrong had 3 (or was it 4 ) of our best chances - without finding the net. The comments about " slack " refereeing are well-made. United's 5 man offside group set a new VAR record which was obvious to almost everyone in the first 10 seconds. The aggression shown towards JWP and Pogba's prolonged "mouthing-off " to the ref. deserved greater punishment, and McGuire's "attack" on Broja was unforgiveable - compounded by his tramping on Broja's leg. McTominay was fortunate to stay on the pitch after his early warning, and in time he may pass Romeu's career record number of yellow cards. Perhaps the ref. was hoping he still had wheels on his car after the final whistle. Our point was well-deserved and perhaps worth more considering the vast " quality gap " that exists between the valuation of Saints squad, and the £multi-million transfer budget MU are given - almost every window. Two of our " new faces " (Elyounoussi and Perraud ) are beginning to look like " the real thing" andI'm convinced that KWP can play almost anywhere, but still unsure of Salisu's best CB partner... (JB or JS)? The Wolves game aside, we have had a great start to the year and am looking forward to continued good Prem. form ( having already played away against the top 8 clubs ) and perhaps continuing on a juicy Cup run leading to Wembley.

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davidargyll added 06:56 - Feb 14 More than anything else, these last two matches reminded me of what a great manager Brian Clough was. He took a bunch of unsung players and turned them into European Champions. Now I’m not saying, for one moment, that, under Ralph, this is what Saints are on the way to becoming, but at Old Trafford we saw how a really well-drilled and managed team can eclipse a bunch of individual stars. In H1 Man U gave us a dose of our own (high pressing) medicine, and we did find it a bit tricky tbh. But then we showed how we can regroup and change tactics and shape so that, as the game wore on, we were on the ascendancy. And at the same time as predicted MU took their overpriced feet off the gas and seemed incapable of coping, with lowly Saints even daring to score against them, let alone outplay them for large parts of the match. Our heads didn’t drop, in fact the complete opposite: we kept going and subsequently made the most expensive team ever assembled in the PL look really rather ordinary. As for individuals: 1. Romain Perraud again and Stuart Armstrong both looked really threatening on the ball going forward; 2. Jack Stephens really shifted up a gear, had his best game of the season and at times was bordering on the imperious; 3. Aside from his goal, Che gets ever more impressive every match, not only because of his threatening presence around the box, but especially because he is often seen belting back to help out the defence, something that his role model, Danny Ings, did a lot of; 4. Fraser Forster was magisterial and was my MOM ; surely we must offer him a new contract now… 5. I do love Salisu, well, most of the time! He is such a wonderfully languid player who has much more of a delicate touch than his demeanour would suggest; but he does cock it up from time to time by defending a long way up the pitch; but hey ho, that’s the risk of playing the pressing game and we can get caught; 6. The funny thing is that I haven’t mentioned JWP, KWP, OR, AB, or Mo; I guess I’m getting so used to them playing well that they don’t warrant a comment! Now when was the last time we could say that?! 7. Four yellow cards for Man U - and that galumphing piece of lard, Maguire, was lucky to get away without one - showed again, as per the Spurs game, how tricky we are to play against. On TV after the game, Paul Scholes made a couple of telling observations: firstly that Saints worked really hard for the whole game, whereas Man U simply didn’t put in a shift at all, particularly after we equalised; and secondly about partnerships. “Southampton,” he said, “had them all over the place, United not one...”. Praise indeed. PS. On Scholes’ and ‘Odel’s suggestion that Ralph would make a perfect fit as MU manager because he has worked with Rangnick before, what a load of tripe. One thing RH has shown in abundance to us -as we have to him - over the last couple of years is LOYALTY, something that Rangnick summarily failed to show him by not offering him a new contract when they were both at RBL. So why on earth would he even think about getting into bed with someone who simply cannot be trusted….?

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ItchenNorth added 08:41 - Feb 14 Those that we're calling that 'we are sleep walking to the championship', need to give their heads a wobble. Man City are just too good ! Nevermind, maybe next season !
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Boris1977 added 08:44 - Feb 14 Round pegs in round holes and starting 11 based on merit rather than favourite - the 'secret' to success. The problems we had in the first half were down to the tinker man's head scratching selection again. Romeu is not a CB under any circumstances other than if we have all other CB's out injured. If Ralph really wanted to start with 3 in the middle Stephens was the obvious choice with a midfielder making way. The improvements in performance and results is that Ralph has learnt from some past mistakes and has had made enforced changes due to injury (Forster being the obvious one) which he would not have made otherwise. However when results are going well a manager can do what he wants and something which is clear is the players are working for him and each other. That spirit is hard to build and that is down to Ralph's observation and hard work. Ralph has been lucky to stay in the job and this is down to circumstances with the ownership among other issues, including lacks of funds to pay Ralph off and genuine lack of alternatives. Thankfully it has worked out in our favour. I'm a fan of Ralph and glad that we have a man of integrity and ability in charge of the club. He has his faults but he has shown he's working through them and the remaining ones will be easy to correct e.g. initial selection of the starting 11. I'm cautiously looking forward to the next few seasons and some kind of success under Ralph. COYRs.

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Boris1977 added 08:47 - Feb 14 And if Ralph is to have a realistic chance of success we need to keep the squad together and early signs from the new owners are positive.
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AirFlorida added 08:53 - Feb 14 It's a ride I'm going to enjoy. It's been a long time coming. But you know what happens every time we get on a ride like this? The likes of Spuds, Man Poo and Liverhampton come along with their cheque books.
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lemmsy added 09:07 - Feb 14 I feel you have to look at this game positively but realistic, Weighing up the chances a draw was about right especially bearing in mind FF ‘s performance.Didn’t think Stu had a particularly good game but to come away from old Trafford slightly disappointed with a draw speaks volumes. The Fernandez swing should definitely have been looked at, I believe pogba was booked for his dissent not the challenge & maquires wasn’t a penalty for me .If that went against us ( & they often do) you wouldn’t be happy.

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SaintNick added 10:07 - Feb 14 Some really good points from everyone well made, when i say we are lacking something, I'm not sure it is already there, at the back we are still far too sloppy when defending especially set pieces, we could easily have ruined 96 minutes of hard work in the final minute when we allowed a free header from close range that thankfully saw a great save from Forster. I think that we still need a defensive partner for Salisu, it might be Lyanco, but otherwise we need to buy in

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felly1 added 11:04 - Feb 14 Gary Cahill??
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redwight added 11:23 - Feb 14 With the form FF is showing, I wonder if the time has come to reconsider buying a new keeper and spending the money (such as it is) elsewhere. That assumes he would be happy to re-sign of course. On another subject, I can't help feeling a certain satisfaction in seeing how the moves to 'better' clubs engineered by Ings, Bertrand and Vestergaard have worked out for them! I think Ralf would call it schadenfreude.

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PaleRider added 12:11 - Feb 14 It looks like it's fun playing for Saints again and therefore it's fun watching. There will be bumps in the road but I, like others above, am looking forward to the next couple of years. The best news is that we have shipped out the deadwood - for me the only exception now is Theo as he is clearly past it. Now is the time to build in the way we failed to do when RK left. In terms of positions: GK. FF - when his head is in the right place he seems to bring confidence to the team. Offer him a new contract, ship McCarthay out (on a free if necessary) and bring in another, decent goal keeper to fight for the no.1 position. Otherwise, keep Willy. Full backs. Perraud - what a revelation. I saw a comparison recently to Golac (one of my favourite players). KWP, Tino - great players. I think we need one more full back - maybe Small, despite his torrid debut (where I don't think he had the support he needed). Centre backs. Salisu is quality, despite the odd lapse. The other 3 are all decent players to play alongside him and we have Simeu coming through. Ideally we could do with some more experience here but not a priority for me. Midfield. Again, we have a great top 4 players but I'm not convinced of the depth. Not sure how long Romeu can keep going but he is so under-rated! Pleased to see Moi finally playing well - he is a class player who is also under-rated. We just need some more consistency here. Forwards. Finally a partnership! I would send A.Armstrong out on loan to rebuild his confidence. It has worked with Moi and FF, so I would try and get him to Celtic or Rangers for a season. We have some decent youngsters so they could understudy Broja/Che. We should break the bank for Broja or come up with a clever deal with Chelsea that works for both parties. He clearly loves being at Saints and would probably not get the game time at Chelsea.

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FrankSaint added 13:37 - Feb 14 Just to put this match in perspective, United's salary spend for this season is estimated to be just over a quarter of a billion pounds. Saints' salary spend is just under £44 million. Nuffsaid.
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Block8 added 13:53 - Feb 14 Only a couple of things to mention. On the headed chance in the last minute, we maintain a very high line from free kicks and occasionally it doesn't quite work but that's a chance we take, VAR doesn't make mistakes on offside! And United spread their front 3 across our defence with Rashford and Sancho staying out wide, this enabled them to drop the ball behind our marauding full backs. This was effective due to our CB's also pushing too high. ralph corrected this mid way through the first half. Only one other thing that is really peeing me off and it's the total disrespect shown to our club by these so called experts telling our players and manager where they should be, with total disregard to where they are!!!! COYR

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FrankSaint added 14:35 - Feb 14 Pundits reselling our players is just more click bait to keep the wheels of the gravy train turning. And a good chunk of fans leap on this lazy content because they are either juveniles or of juvenile mind, wishing their own club to spend with gay abandon. That's enough metaphors. Ed.
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halftimeorange added 16:42 - Feb 14 My thoughts are that if we can keep up the pressure for 90+ minutes then, with the eleven we started with at Man U, we will win more games than we lose. We did this quite recently and rose to the top of the table but, remember players then started to burn out and we went on a slide because we didn't have sufficient quality sat on the bench to step in. I think we've improved somewhat in that department but, the wholesale changes made for the Coventry game showed that we are not there yet. Nick's summary is accurate in every respect - we are missing something and I also think it's in the centre backs, however another VVD is hard to find although Salisu might get there and Lyanco looks decent. Our new-found attacking form is as a result of the Armstrong - Elyonoussi partnership, both of whom are showing their talent for opening up defences. Everton will be a good test as they're on the up as well and thet have a world-class player in Richarlison. Stop him and I think we win.

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pwithers123 added 16:56 - Feb 14 Great performance and great comments above. What was also great to see was the performances of the players sold : Hojbjerg - On the bench for Spurs £15m : Ings - Got on the pitch in 72nd minute ( guess he was not injured anyway ) £25m : Vestergard - got on in 89th minute £15m AND Both Villa and Leicester are now below Saints in the table Great work by the team and by Hassenhutl - Superb development of young talent - and old heads

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Mattsgrandad added 17:13 - Feb 14 Just a point. It's an absolute pleasure to see the smile and enjoyment on KWP's face during and after the matches. He obviously loves playing for Ralph and the club. No tantrums when kept out at the beginning of the season, just putting in great displays every week. To me player of the season. The spuds fans must have felt sick the other night watching their donkeys perform when they could have kept nijinsky.

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Colburn added 11:36 - Feb 15 One of the main reasons we were better than Utd second half was the superb performance of Jack Stephens. Probably the best half of football he's played since he wore our shirt. This was obvious to many but not mentioned in the match report. We would not have garnered a point without his solid display. He looked off the pace when he came back from injury but at old Trafford looked sharp and aggressive. Poor journalism to not mention this in the report but I agree with the majority of it. We were the better team but were wasteful and Fraser was the busier keeper. Incredible trio of performances and results, now we must back it up with 6 or 7 points from the next three games. Everton is the real test for me..

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