Southampton goalscorer Che Adams has revealed that he and his teammates knew Manchester United would be “vulnerable” in the second half.
Ralf Rangnick’s Reds had taken a first half lead through Jadon Sancho’s second goal at Old Trafford in as many games.
But despite going into half-time with a 1-0 lead for the third consecutive game, the Red Devils failed to build on their lead and were once again clawed back.
Despite playing 24 hours after United in the week, it was Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side who looked the fresher and fitter as the match wore on.
Similar to the equaliser at Turf Moor, the Saints restored parity early in the second half, following a clinical finish from Adams.
Judging by Adams’ post-match comments on BT Sport, the Saints knew there was an opportunity to catch United cold early in the second half and that was spoken about in the away dressing room.
Adams said: “Obviously, the lads spoke about it – [the second half is] when they’re at their most vulnerable. We managed to dust ourselves down at half-time and then go to the second half flying and obviously getting a goal helped us and we grew more into the game.”
The Scotland international’s comments really do show how far Manchester United have dropped off.
Coming to the Theatre of Dreams during Sir Alex Ferguson’s trophy-filled tenure as an away side was arguably one of the most daunting tests in football.
But now as Adams has revealed, teams are picking United off and enjoying the occasion of playing in one of the biggest stadiums in the world.
United could have been out of sight at half-time in all three of our last games, but our lack of ruthlessness and composure in front of goal gives Rangnick real cause for concern.
As Che Adams has declared, if teams are still in the game at half-time then United’s vulnerabilities and weaknesses give the opposition cause for optimism.
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