United thank lucky stars

IT WAS Gary Player who declared 'the more I practise the luckier I get' so Alex Ferguson must have been working off his frustrations at Manchester United's Carrington training ground last week.

Even match-winner Ruud van Nistelrooy was forced to accept Southampton deserved far more than their 14th defeat in 15 league visits to Old Trafford after a frenzied encounter in which the home side's defensive frailties were badly exposed.

A week remarkable even by United's standards of headline-making started with the arrival of £12.8m Louis Saha, has seen both Ferguson and Van Nistelrooy sign new contracts, the United board launch an internal investigation into their transfer policy, their manager come under renewed attack from major shareholders and then respond with incomprehension at impropriety during his 17 years in charge.

When Rio Ferdinand's eight-month ban for a missed drugs test was handed down on January 19, any suggestion that within a fortnight the former Leeds defender's aberration would be buried by separate publicity would have been greeted with the same howls of derision which accompanied United's attempts to claim the England international had done nothing wrong. But if Ferdinand's enforced absence for the first time in Barclaycard Premiership combat since the FA handed down their weighty punishment was a mere footnote at the start of Saturday's game, by the end his name was back on the lips of the United fans.

True, the home side may have gained maximum points from an absorbing cut-and-thrust battle with Gordon Strachan's men, but without Ferdinand, United's defence was sliced apart far too easily and, if he was watching, even a football novice like John Magnier would have noticed.

"We were lucky to win," admitted van Nistelrooy, whose scrambled second-half effort was his 99th goal for the club.

"Southampton deserved more than they got. They created a lot of chances, had some good situations in front of goal and Tim Howard made some excellent saves."

"I was concerned about the defending," added Ferguson. "Wes Brown hasn't played for eight months and there is a big difference between Northampton last week and Southampton this. He needs games and next Saturday I'm sure we will see a different player."

Southampton had served notice they intended to make it a difficult afternoon for their hosts long before Saha's free-kick flicked off Kevin Phillips to give United their first-half lead.

Paired up front with Brett Ormerod, Phillips darted around intelligently and with no Gary Neville to bellow instructions, the United defence seemed to lack direction.

Offensively, the Red Devils looked better than they have for weeks and in Saha they appear to have found a natural partner for van Nistelrooy. Both were involved in the superb one-touch move which eventually saw Paul Scholes ram home a second but any thought that Southampton would let their heads drop were quickly dispelled when Phillips' shot beat Howard thanks to a clear deflection off Ormerod.

The former Sunderland man levelled eight minutes after the interval with a thunderous strike. And though Strachan continued to debate Graham Barber's interpretation of the new offside law long into the night, his team would have snatched a point had Howard not tipped Danny Higginbotham's overhead kick onto the bar or Phillips not failed by inches to touch home James Beattie's low cross by a matter of inches.

"I don't ever remember us losing a two-goal lead before," said van Nistelrooy, who, before heaping praise on his new team-mate admitted even he wasn't exactly sure what the new offside law entails.

"You have to give us time because I have only trained with Louis for a week - but I was surprised how well it went for us," added the flying Dutchman. "There is a good feeling between us. Louis has a lot of quality and hopefully we can build on that for the rest of the season."