Cometh the hour, cometh the van

Southhampton 2 Man Utd 3

Van Persie’s spectacular hat-trick — in Alex Ferguson’s 1000th league match in charge — saved United from the ignominy of losing two of their opening three games of the campaign, taking them from 2-1 down against Southampton to secure a thrilling victory that left visiting fans chanting the name of a player who just months ago was seen as the enemy.

Never mind that Southampton looked the better side for long periods; never mind that United were unconvincing, especially in midfield where Shinji Kagawa was over-run, and never mind that van Persie also took a miserable penalty that was dramatically saved at a time when his side were desperate to get back in game.

All United fans will remember instead is the defining moment when the Dutchman’s wonderful header from a Nani corner turned defeat into victory in Fergie-time and lifted him to cult status just weeks into his time at Old Trafford.

Now they know how Arsenal fans used to feel. The former Gunner had already equalised twice in the match — firing home emphatically with his left-foot for 1-1 after Rickie Lambert had opened the scoring and thenstabbing home another after Rio Ferdinand’s header hit a post when the Saints were 2-1 up courtesy of a Morgan Schneiderlin header.

There was no need to look very far for the man of the match award, and in truth it would have been a struggle to find one in the United ranks such was the stuttering nature of the performance of the other 10 men on the field. But for now that doesn’t matter too much; because United have a new hero to hang their title challenge on — and nobody even stopped to notice that Wayne Rooney, currently out injured, was missing from the party.

That is important; because when this match is analysed and dissected, Ferguson may well reflect that he has a lot of work to do if United are to become more than a one-man team over the next few months.

They were shaky in defence, beaten to the ball in midfield and lacked the kind of cutting edge and energy in the final third of the field that Southampton seemed to provide in bundles — at least until Paul Scholes arrived as a late substitute and changed the shape of the game. It makes you wonder why Fergie didn’t spend at least some of his transfer budget on a midfielder to accompany his new striker.

“We were a bit lucky with the 2-2 and the dramatic end,” admitted van Persie. “I have to say a big thank you to Paul Scholes. When he came on, every single pass he hit was the right one. With him you are always on your toes. For me, he was the man of the match.”

In truth, that award could so easily have gone to a Southampton player because at times they were irresistible.

They took the lead when Schneiderlin did superbly to nip in and steal the ball from a sleeping Kagawa, before the excellent Jason Puncheon’s perfect left-foot cross was headed home by Lambert.

United responded with a clinical van Persie finish — helped by a slip from Nathaniel Clyne in the six-yard box — but Southampton dominated long periods of the second half and went 2-1 ahead when Lambert crossed for Schneiderlin to score with a well-taken downward header.

For a while it seemed the Premier League new boys were set for a remarkable victory; especially when Jos Hooiveld gave away a penalty that van Persie wasted, seeing his week effort superbly saved by Kelvin Davis, whose poor clearance had set up the danger in the first place.

But United, or should that be van Persie, found a way out of trouble in the end. First the Dutchman, forced home a equaliser and then he twisted to head home Nani’s corner deep into injury time to write his name into United folklore.

Even Ferguson, when asked if his new striker had dug United out of a deep hole, had to admit the result hinged primarily on van Persie’s eye for goal.

“Absolutely,” he said. “Although to be honest with you I thought when Scholes came on the pitch it changed the game completely. But van Persie has four goals in two starts and that’s a great statistic. And he’ll get better.”

SOUTHAMPTON: Davis, Clyne, Fonte, Hooiveld, Fox, Puncheon (Mayuka 74), Steven Davis, Schneiderlin, Ward-Prowse, Lallana (Rodriguez 79), Lambert (Do Prado 74).

MAN UNITED: Lindegaard, Da Silva, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Valencia, Cleverley (Scholes 61), Carrick, Welbeck (Hernandez 71), van Persie, Kagawa (Nani 61).

Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral).