Mason Greenwood earns Manchester United draw at Southampton

If anything encapsulated a trying afternoon for Manchester United, it was the sight of Paul Pogba being booked for a crude challenge as the clock ticked into second-half stoppage time, seconds after the Southampton striker Che Adams made a superb sliding tackle on Bruno Fernandes. United wiped the floor with Leeds last weekend but had to settle for a point here as Mason Greenwood equalised to extend their unbeaten away league run to 27 games, matching Arsenal’s top-flight record.

Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side were erratic and off-colour, teasing only patches of class for the noisy travelling fans. Southampton proved fiendish opponents, successfully shackling United’s glittering cast and could have earned victory on another day. For Solskjær, the warning signs were there long before Adams’ shot beat David de Gea, via a wicked deflection off Fred, with half an hour gone. “We lost our heads when they scored,” Solskjær said.

United began sloppily too, typified by Harry Maguire conceding an early corner under pressure from Adam Armstrong after Luke Shaw was railroaded back towards his own goal by Theo Walcott. Though United rallied to rattle the woodwork on seven minutes through a looping Pogba header before Anthony Martial had a prodded shot cleared off the line, a couple of wayward passes and sticky touches offered Southampton cause for encouragement.

The moment that led to Saints taking the lead stemmed from Jack Stephens pickpocketing a dawdling Fernandes 25 yards from goal. Stephens looked up and played a slide-rule pass infield, which was worked into Adams’ feet via neat touches by Moussa Djenepo and Armstrong. Adams fooled Maguire on the edge of the box and then blasted in, with the help of Fred’s left boot. Stephens’ challenge was deemed firm but fair by the referee, Craig Pawson, much to the anger of Fernandes, whose protests earned him a booking. Perhaps this was the latest example of the officials’ light-touch approach, a commitment to let the game flow?

“It was 100% a foul,” Solskjær said. “But we should do better. If you don’t get a foul, we should make sure we block the shot, put your body on the line and make sure they do not get a shot on target. I’m a bit, not worried, but we have to look at it. We cannot go from one extreme [to the other], [from] volleyball or basketball to rugby. I like the more lenient way but it was a foul.”

United were visibly frustrated but guilty of huffing and puffing in possession. By contrast, Southampton were enjoying themselves, with the 18-year-old Tino Livramento rampaging down the right flank and breezing past Fred before sending in a delicious cross that just eluded the outstretched legs of Armstrong. Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side harried and made life difficult from the off, none more so than when, just before the interval, three red-and-white shirts teamed up on Shaw and Oriol Romeu fished out the ball. Soon after, Pogba sent a pass straight out of play in first-half added time.

United have been a puzzling team under Solskjær, one capable of oscillating from the silly to the spectacular within minutes and in the second half they displayed their more convincing side. Pogba had moments in the first half – he set Martial free with a wondrous pass with the outside of his right boot –and was evidently in the mood after the break, his foray into the box leading to the United equaliser. Pogba, who left the pitch with four assists to his name against Leeds, danced inside, played a one-two with Fernandes and then chalked up another, nudging the ball to Greenwood, who drilled a shot between the legs of the sprawling Mohammed Salisu and Alex McCarthy, who dived down to his left. Pogba was denied by Salisu in the first half and came close to scoring in the second. He twisted away from four opponents, swivelled inside with his right foot and dropped a shot narrowly wide with his left.

By that point, Hasenhüttl had long since taken off the navy waistcoat that complemented his pinstripe trousers and superstition means the outfit may stay for upcoming trips to Newport and Newcastle. “When it brings [points], I’ll do anything,” the Southampton manager said. “Bathing shorts or Speedos, if I know that we [would] get points – but maybe only in the summer.”