A Southampton side eager for their first point of the season hosted an underperforming Manchester United side at a sunny St Mary's.
Russell Martin made four changes to his starting lineup from the 3-1 loss at Brentford, including teenager Tyler Dibling making his first Premier League start.
It was a positive opening to the match for the Saints, which saw Yukinari Sugawara, Lesley Ugochukwu and Tyler Dibling all have good chances to find the back of the net. Southampton's best chance of the game came after 33 minutes when Andre Onana denied Cameron Archer from the penalty spot.
However, Matthijs de Ligt gave Manchester United the lead just two minutes later after his perfect header found its way past an outstretched Aaron Ramsdale, followed by a curling shot from Marcus Rashford to make it 2-0 shortly after.
It was total domination from Manchester United after half-time which saw Southampton captain Jack Stephens receive a red card for his high tackle on substitute Alejandro Garnacho. This did not stop the Argentine, though, as he found United's third during stoppage time.
Here are the key takeaways from the contest:
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Southampton goalscoring worries persist
It is fair to say that Southampton have had a nightmare start to the campaign, having lost all four of their games in the Premier League so far.
However, the lack of goals being scored is the main problem for Russell Martin's men. The only one of the campaign being Sugawara's stoppage time strike against Brentford last time out.
The Saints managed to find the back of the net on eighty-seven different occasions in the Championship last season, a figure they appear miles off this year.
Cameron Archer did not help Southampton's issues after his effort was saved from the penalty spot. The striker was purchased for £15 million last month, but is still yet to open his account in the league this season.
The chances came for Saints this afternoon, however, they are still missing the clinical nature needed to survive in the Premier League.
Set-piece defending must improve
Southampton are known to be pretty poor when it comes to defending set-pieces in the past few years, and it is still continuing.
Manchester United's first two goals this afternoon came from laziness at the back when facing corners.
Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford found themselves wide open outside of the penalty area on both occasions, allowing them to punish the Southampton backline.
Set-piece goals conceded against Brentford and Nottingham Forest show just how big of a problem this is for the Martin.
Southampton starlet impresses again
Saints' youngster Tyler Dibling made his first Premier League start this afternoon.
After exciting performances against Cardiff and Brentford, the eighteen-year-old replaced Adam Armstrong in the starting lineup.
Dibling was probably the best player on the pitch in the first half, linking up with Yukinari Sugawara down the right-hand side to give Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot some real problems.
The highlight of the young man's afternoon came when he was brought down in the penalty area after a silky run.
Dibling was brought off due to cramp after an hour in a quadruple change from Russell Martin, who replaced him with veteran Adam Lallana. An electric performance from one of Staplewood's very own.
Centre-back partnership yet to click
After already conceding 11 goals this season in all competitions, it is clear to see that the Southampton backline are struggling at this level.
However, it is the centre-backs that are causing the most trouble for the Saints so far.
Russell Martin reverted back to his familiar 4-3-3 set up today, dropping Taylor Harwood-Bellis and opting to field Jack Stephens and Jan Bednarek, who have a deep partnership dating back to 2017. Although, neither player displayed a good performance after Jack Stephens saw red and both conceding three goals.
Saints defenders Armel Bella-Kotchap, Ronnie Edwards and Nathan Wood are all yet to be included in the Premier League this season, with none of the three even making the bench today.
After a substandard start to the season, Southampton need to improve defensively to avoid going straight back down.
