Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester United matched the Premier League record win with a 9-0 demolition of nine-man Southampton on Tuesday to move level on points with Manchester City at the top of the table.
It is the second consecutive campaign Saints have suffered a 9-0 thrashing after Leicester last season at St Mary’s equalled the record set by United against Ipswich in 1995.
The visitors were punished for Alexandre Jankewitz’s second-minute red card on his Premier League debut.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Marcus Rashford, Edinson Cavani and Jan Bednarek’s own goal made it 4-0 before half-time.
Anthony Martial came off the bench to score twice in the second half, while Scott McTominay, Bruno Fernandes and Daniel James also netted either side of Bednarek’s late dismissal.
Southampton were already decimated by an injury crisis that led to Jankewitz getting his chance before the 19-year-old lunged into McTominay after just 79 seconds.
United had taken just one point from their previous two games to temper hopes they can challenge for a first league title in eight years.
But they made sure they stormed back to winning ways by opening up the 10 men at will.
Wan-Bissaka scored just his second goal for the club when he met Luke Shaw’s cross at the back post to open the floodgates on 18 minutes.
Rashford then converted Mason Greenwood’s cross and it was from his driven low ball across the box that Bednarek turned into his own net.
Cavani powered home a header from another Shaw cross before the Uruguayan thought he had won a penalty.
A VAR review gave Southampton a rare let-off as instead a free-kick on the edge of the box was awarded.
However, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men were denied themselves after the break when Che Adams had a consolation strike ruled out for a marginal offside.
The goals at the other end kept on coming as Martial ended his eight-game goal brought with a thumping finish from Bruno Fernandes’s through ball.
McTominay then drilled home a low effort from long range.
A nightmare night for the visitors continued when Bednarek was harshly sent off after another lengthy VAR review for clipping Martial as he bore down on goal.
Fernandes coolly converted the resulting penalty to end his own five-game goalless run in the league.
Martial then controlled and finished Wan-Bissaka’s cross before James inflicted the final blow in stoppage time by flicking home Fernandes’s header.
