By James Robson, The Associated Press on September 14, 2024.
Marcus Rashford snapped a 12-game barren run in front of goal as Manchester United beat Southampton 3-0 in the Premier League on Saturday. Rashford doubled United’s lead at Saint Mary’s after Matthijs de Ligt’s scored his first for the club. Substitute Alejandro Garnacho scored a third in the sixth minute of stoppage time. The win came after back-to-back defeats for United in a disappointing start to the season. Rashford hadn’t scored since United’s 4-3 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup in March. He curled in a shot from the edge of the area to put Erik ten Hag’s team 2-0 up at Southampton in the 41st minute. Ten Hag said it could be a turning point for the forward. “For every striker, they want to be on the scoring list. Once the first is in, more is coming. Once a striker was talking about a ketchup bottle, once it’s going, it’s coming more,” he said. De Ligt, who joined United from Bayern Munich in the off-season, headed in from Bruno Fernandes’ cross in the 35th. It was a much-needed with for United after losses to Brighton and Liverpool in the first three games of the season. But it could have been a different story if Cameron Archer had converted a penalty for Southampton in the 33rd. Instead, his effort was saved by goalkeeper Andre Onana. Newly promoted Southampton was reduced to 10-men when Jack Stephens was sent off in the 79th for a high challenge on Garnacho. ___ James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson ___ AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer 14