Southampton's new £4m signing Charlie Austin took just seven minutes after coming off the bench to score a late winner and pile the pressure on beleaguered Louis van Gaal as Manchester United once more crashed to ignominious defeat.
His 87th-minute header left United with just 37 points after 23 games, their lowest total in the Premier League era, and three fewer than David Moyes had at the same stage during his season in charge.
They have now won only two of their last ten league matches, and they have failed to score in eight league matches this season.
When asked whether he feared for his job after yet another cowed, nervy, uninspired showing by his side, Van Gaal, replied: "I cannot answer that.
“I don’t know, but it was a poor performance, of course, because football is not only defending but creating chances and we didn’t create any chance.”
It was not so much the defeat as the manner of it that dismayed the home support, and the match was played to a gathering soundtrack of anger in the stands, with a chorus of boos ringing the ears of Van Gaal and his players as they left the pitch.
“It was a poor game for the fans,” admitted Van Gaal. “I cannot change feelings, only work hard with the players. That is what I am doing. I put a question: how can we change this? That is my job. It is not an easy job.”
Adding that he thought United’s players may have been put off their stride by the sight of the fullback Matteo Darmian spitting blood after sustaining a rib injury, Van Gaal expressed his own frustration at his side’s inability to seize on the momentum of victory at Anfield last week.
“That’s the question,” he said. “When you have these results it has to give you more confidence. But also your opponent makes it more difficult, but I had the impression we could have done it better today.”
With Telegraph
