Premiership: Van Nistelrooy sets record as United lead Saints

Southampton 1, Manchester Utd 2 (half-time)

Ruud van Nistelrooy set a new Premiership record when he scored in his eighth successive Premiership game at Southampton.

The Dutchman equalised James Beattie’s early strike in the ninth minute with his 14th Premiership goal of the season and his 27th in total.

David Beckham gave the away side the lead on the stroke of half-time when he curled a free-kick into the net at the far post after Marsden fouled Veron.

United found themselves needing yet another of their famous fightbacks when James Beattie’s header gave Southampton the lead after just three minutes at St Mary’s.

In virtually their first attack, Paul Telfer played Jason Dodd through on the right to provide a perfect cross and the in-form Beattie out-jumped his marker to bury his 12th goal of the season even though diving keeper Fabian Barthez appeared to get a touch with a flailing left hand.

But United took only five minutes to level, the inevitable van Nistelrooy notching the goal to equal that Premiership sequence record.

Paul Scholes’s pass released the Dutchman into acres of space down the inside-right channel and although Paul Jones came off his line to make the angle more difficult, van Nistelrooy made no mistake with a low drive.

A second-minute United free-kick had sparked this electric start, David Beckham drifting his effort from 30 yards just wide of Jones’s left-hand post after Paul Williams blocked off van Nistelrooy’s run.

Even before the equaliser, United had a great chance to hit back when Juan Sebastian Veron’s cross was tamely headed over by Laurent Blanc from just a few yards out.

But Saints did not let United’s quick comeback deflate them. And both Beattie and Dodd should have done better when presented with promising situations on the edge of the United area.

After Claus Lundekvam cut out a dangerous Beckham cross Saints swept to the other end and Blanc had to step in smartly to prevent Beattie getting onto another chance of a scoring header in the 17th minute.