Sun Sep 15 00:57:12 UTC 2024: ## Manchester United Ease Pressure on Ten Hag with 3-0 Win Over Southampton

**Southampton, England -** Manchester United secured a morale-boosting 3-0 victory over Southampton on Saturday, easing the pressure on manager Erik ten Hag after back-to-back defeats. The win came as Southampton suffered their fourth consecutive loss since returning to the Premier League.

The match turned on a crucial penalty miss by Southampton’s Cameron Archer early in the game. Andre Onana, the Manchester United goalkeeper, saved Archer’s spot-kick, and within eight minutes, Matthijs de Ligt and Marcus Rashford scored to put the visitors in control. De Ligt, who joined United from Bayern Munich this summer, scored his first goal for the club, while Rashford ended his scoring drought, netting his first goal since March.

Southampton’s woes deepened in the second half as captain Jack Stephens was sent off for a wild lunge on Alejandro Garnacho. The young winger then added a third goal in stoppage time to complete the comfortable victory for United.

“It’s very important. We spoke before the game and it’s so huge for him [Rashford] and every striker to be on the scoring list,” ten Hag said about Rashford’s goal. “Now he has his first, I’m sure there will be more.”

The win will provide much-needed relief for ten Hag, whose team had been struggling to find consistency. The manager was keen to highlight the importance of the result, saying, “We have to win every game. Sometimes you have to find a way to win. In the first minutes of the game we had some problems, until the save from Andre and the goal from De Ligt. The game was all ours after that.”

For Southampton, the defeat continues a worrying start to the season. Manager Russell Martin will need to find a way to turn things around quickly if his team is to avoid a relegation battle.

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