Giggs is leading the way

Manchester United 2 Pallister 19, Cantona 80 Southampton 1 Ostens tad 11 Attendance: 55,269

A Southampton side unrecognisable from the one outplayed and outfought by Second Division opposition in mid-week gave the top of their own class all manner of trouble before finally succumbing to Eric Cantona's goal 10 minutes from time at Old Trafford.

Alex Ferguson had warned United to expect a backlash after Southampton's humiliation by Stockport in the Coca-Cola Cup quarter finals. So it proved, with the visitors taking an early lead, looking dangerous on other occasions in the first half and then defending with resolution as United threw everything at them in the second.

Ferguson called Southampton's approach, with Matt Le Tissier and Eyal Berkovitch playing as attacking wide midfielders, "very ambitious". He said: "The way they set out their side gave us a problem." It was one which was only resolved as time began to run out for the Premiership leaders.

"After Wednesday it was important that we came here and put on some sort of show," said the Southampton manager, Graeme Souness. "We had some very hard words with the players this week. But this is an intimidating place to come and play and they showed that they are capable of standing up and being counted."

In the first half, they did rather more than that, taking an 11th-minute lead through Egil Ostenstad, one of the prime movers in their 6-3 win over United at the Dell in October.

United equalised when Gary Pallister chested down Cantona's corner and fired home eight minutes later, but Southampton continued to present more of a threat than they had ever done to Stockport. United had their chances, notably when Ryan Giggs' dazzling run turned the defence inside out, yet the game looked anything but top versus bottom.

The second half was a different type of spectacle, with United surging forward in waves and subjecting Southampton to constant pressure. Giggs was a particular tormentor. If there has been a persistent criticism of him as a player it has been that the quality of his crossing does not always match that of the running that gets him into the position to deliver the ball. That could not be said of him yesterday, as his invention and precision kept Southampton at full stretch.

For all his expertise, however, the vital goal would not come. David Beckham, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Cantona, Karel Poborsky, Roy Keane and even Gary Neville all went close before it finally arrived. Fittingly, it was set up by a Giggs cross, this time hit long and flat for Cantona to sweep in from beyond the far post.

The relief around Old Trafford was palpable, but Southampton almost snatched a second goal when Neil Maddison failed to force in Le Tissier's corner.

"I'm not happy but I feel a lot more positive than I did on Wednesday," said Souness. Sufficiently positive to make a joke, in fact. "We won on aggregate," he declared - and there might not be too many teams able to say that of their season's dealings with United.