Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had ample reason to flash a broad grin as he praised his side’s ruthlessness after Manchester United equalled a Premier League record by consigning Southampton to the guillotine with a 9-0 thrashing on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
The Saints were done in from the moment Alex Jankewitz was sent off for an ugly challenge on Scott McTominay barely 79 seconds into his first Premier League start.<\/p>\n
United masterfully racked up the goals to equal the biggest win in the competition’s history, level with their own 9-0 victory over Ipswich in 1995 and Leicester’s nine-goal humiliation of Southampton last season.<\/p>\n
Asked post-match if he was pleased by his players\u2019 ruthless streak, Solskjaer said:<\/p>\n
“They were (ruthless). It came from them. They drove it on, the players out there.<\/p>\n
“I thought they played the game properly because we had to. Sometimes when you play against 10 men they sit behind the ball, make it hard for you, defend well and they can break on you.<\/p>\n
“We played the game properly, we switched it from side to side, threatening in behind them, some good individual movements and performances. We played it the way we had to.<\/p>\n
“When you play football you have to make the most of it – it might be the last game you play, you never know. So, we played like it could’ve been the last game.”<\/p>\n
The result means United go level on points with Man City for 24 hours at least, having played two more games than their Manchester rivals, who go to Burnley on Wednesday evening. United are, however, four points ahead of Liverpool having played a game more, while Saints are 12th having lost their last four.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"