The

2020–21 Premier League The 2020–21 Premier League was the 29th season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1992 and the 122nd season of top-flight English football overall. The season w ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

match between

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

was played at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

, Greater Manchester, on 2 February 2021. The match finished 9–0 to Manchester United, a joint-record winning margin for a Premier League match, shared with their own 9–0 win at home to

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

in March 1995,

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

's 9–0 away win over Southampton in October 2019 and

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

's 9–0 home win against

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

in August 2022. Seven different players scored for United (excluding Jan Bednarek's

own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...

), equalling the all-time Premier League record of most goalscorers for the same team in a single match, set when Chelsea beat

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

8–0 in December 2012. This record was broken on 24 September 2023, when

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

had eight different scorers in an 8–0 win against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

. The match is the joint-seventh highest-scoring Premier League match in history.

Background

went into the match in second place in the

table on 41 points, three behind

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, albeit having played 21 matches to City's 20. They had lost just once in their last 16 matches, although they had also won only one of their last four; City had overtaken them at the top of the league with a 5–0 win over

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

on 26 January, and United's defeat at home to last-placed

the next day gave City a further advantage. United then fell further behind on 30 January, as they could only manage a goalless draw away to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, while City beat Sheffield United 1–0 at home. Meanwhile,

went into the match in 11th place, though they had briefly led the Premier League in November, and were still as high as third in mid-December; a run of just one win in eight Premier League matches, including losing their last three, had seen them drop down the table. They had also scored just three goals in those eight matches, having managed 24 in the first 13 games of the season. The sides had already met once that season, at Southampton's home ground,

St Mary's Stadium St Mary's Stadium is a seated but also safe-standing football stadium in Southampton, Hampshire, England, which has been the home stadium of club Southampton since 2001. The stadium has a capacity of 32,384 and is currently the largest footbal ...

, on 29 November 2020. Jan Bednarek opened the scoring midway through the first half with a header from a

James Ward-Prowse James Michael Edward Ward-Prowse (born 1 November 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club West Ham United. Originally a member of Southampton's youth teams, Ward-Prowse made his first-team debut ...

corner, before Ward-Prowse himself scored from a

direct free kick A free kick is a method of restarting play in association football. It is awarded after an infringement of the Laws of the Game (association football), laws by the opposing team. Direct and indirect free kicks Free kicks may be either dire ...

10 minutes later.

Bruno Fernandes Bruno Miguel Borges Fernandes (; born 8 September 1994) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Manchester United, which he captains, and the Portugal national team. Fernandes started his career at Italia ...

pulled a goal back for Manchester United just under 15 minutes into the second half, turning home a right-wing cross from

Edinson Cavani Edinson Roberto Cavani Gómez (; born 14 February 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Argentine Primera División club Boca Juniors. Nicknamed "El Matador" (The Bullfighter), he is considered as one of the ...

, who had come on at half-time, before providing the assist for Cavani to head in the equalising goal in the 74th minute. In the second minute of second-half stoppage time, Cavani scored the winner with another header, this time following a cross from the left wing by

Marcus Rashford Marcus Rashford (born 31 October 1997) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa, on Loan (association football), lo ...

. It was the fourth time in the season that United had come from behind to win.

Pre-match

Team selection

While Manchester United had a full squad available heading into the match, Southampton were missing several players through injury, including Ibrahima Diallo,

Michael Obafemi Michael Oluwadurotimi Obafemi (born 6 July 2000) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Burnley and the Republic of Ireland national team. Early life Obafemi was born in Dublin to Nigerian parents. While he was ...

Oriol Romeu Oriol Romeu Vidal (; born 24 September 1991) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Midfielder#Defensive midfielder, defensive midfielder for La Liga club FC Barcelona, Barcelona. Romeu began his career at FC ...

, Mohammed Salisu, Will Smallbone, Nathan Tella,

Jannik Vestergaard Jannik Vestergaard (born 3 August 1992) is a Danish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Leicester City F.C., Leicester City and the Denmark national football team, Denmark national tea ...

Theo Walcott Theo James Walcott (born 16 March 1989) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. He represented England at the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2012 and won 47 caps, scoring eight goals. Walcott currently appears as a cl ...

and Kyle Walker-Peters. Southampton made four changes from their 1–0 loss to Aston Villa three days earlier; in the absence of central midfielders Diallo, Romeu and Smallbone, manager

Ralph Hasenhüttl Ralph Hasenhüttl (; born 9 August 1967) is an Austrian professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of VfL Wolfsburg. During his playing career, he played as a centre forward. As a manager, he has developed ...

gave a full debut to Swiss 19-year-old Alexandre Jankewitz, who had come on as a late substitute against Aston Villa. Right-back Walker-Peters had not played since Southampton's 1–0 FA Cup fourth round win over Arsenal and was deputised by Kayne Ramsay, as Yan Valery had been loaned to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

before the transfer deadline the previous day. Their other changes saw

Moussa Djenepo Moussa Djenepo (born 15 June 1998) is a Malian professional footballer who plays as a winger or left-back for Süper Lig club Antalyaspor, on loan from Belgian Pro League club Standard Liège, and the Mali national team. Club career Early car ...

and

Ché Adams Ché Zach Everton Fred Adams (born 13 July 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Torino and the Scotland national team. Adams began his senior career in non-league football with Oadby Town and Ilkeston before mo ...

come in for Walcott and

Nathan Redmond Nathan Daniel Jerome Redmond (born 6 March 1994) is an English professional association football, footballer who plays as a Winger (sports), winger for club Burnley F.C., Burnley. Redmond began his career as a youngster with Birmingham City F. ...

, who was on the bench. Southampton had seven youth-team players, including youngster Will Ferry on the bench. Manchester United's only change to their starting line-up saw

Mason Greenwood Mason Will John Greenwood (born 1 October 2001) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ligue 1 club Marseille. A graduate of Manchester United's youth system, Greenwood scored in a UEFA Europa League match against As ...

come in for

Paul Pogba Paul Labile Pogba (born 15 March 1993) is a French professional footballer who is a free agent. He primarily plays as a central midfielder. Born in Lagny-sur-Marne, Pogba joined the youth team of Ligue 2 side Le Havre in 2007. He joined Ma ...

, while Brandon Williams, who had been a candidate to go out on loan during the transfer window, replaced

Axel Tuanzebe Axel Tuanzebe (born 14 November 1997) is a Congolese professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Ipswich Town and the DR Congo national team. Tuanzebe is a graduate of the Manchester United youth system and won both the Jimmy ...

on the bench.

Referee

The referee for the match was Mike Dean from

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. He was supported by assistant referees Darren Cann and Ian Hussin, fourth official

Lee Mason Lee Mason (born 29 October 1971)
and biography:

video assistant referee The video assistant referee (VAR) is a Assistant referee (association football), match official in association football who assists the referee by reviewing decisions using video footage and providing advice to the referee based on those revi ...

team of Graham Scott and Stephen Child.

Match

Summary

In the second minute of the match, Southampton midfielder Alexandre Jankewitz, on his first start for the club, was sent off for a high challenge on

Scott McTominay Scott Francis McTominay (born 8 December 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Napoli and the Scotland national team. McTominay is a graduate of Manchester United's youth academy and made his senior debut for ...

. It was the fourth time that a player had been sent off within the first two minutes of a Premier League game. Now with a man advantage, Manchester United opened the scoring in the 18th minute, when right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka met a cross from

Luke Shaw Luke Paul Hoare Shaw (born 12 July 1995) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a left-back for club Manchester United F.C., Manchester United and the England national football team, England national team. Ori ...

at the back post.

doubled United's lead seven minutes later, before forcing an own goal from Jan Bednarek in the 34th minute.

added a fourth goal for the home side five minutes later, and it could have been 5–0 before half-time when referee Mike Dean awarded a penalty for a foul on Cavani by Kayne Ramsay; however, the decision was overturned by the

, who deemed the foul to have taken place outside the penalty area. At half-time, Manchester United brought on

Anthony Martial Anthony Jordan Martial (; born 5 December 1995) is a French professional footballer who plays for Super League Greece club AEK Athens. After playing youth football for Les Ulis, Martial began his professional career at Lyon, before transferri ...

and

Donny van de Beek Donny van de Beek (; born 18 April 1997) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Girona. In youth international football, Van de Beek made more than 40 appearances for the Netherlands from under-17 to ...

in place of Cavani and Shaw.

thought he had pulled a goal back for Southampton eight minutes into the second half, only to have it ruled narrowly offside by the video assistant referee. The score stayed at 4–0 for much of the second half, before Martial scored his first goal in nine games in the 69th minute. McTominay scored United's sixth with a low shot from outside the penalty area two minutes later. United were eventually awarded a penalty in the 87th minute when Martial was denied a goalscoring opportunity in the penalty area by Bednarek, who was sent off, reducing Southampton to nine men;

converted the spot-kick to make the score 7–0. Martial then added United's eighth goal in the 90th minute, the first time he had scored more than once in a game since his hat-trick against Sheffield United in June 2020, before fellow substitute Daniel James, who had come on for Rashford in the second half, completed the 9–0 scoreline in the final minute of second-half stoppage time. Manchester United's complete dominance was reflected in the

expected goals In association football, expected goals (xG) is a performance metric used to evaluate team and player performances. It can be used to represent the probability of a scoring opportunity that may result in a goal. It is also used in ice hockey. Mea ...

(xG) metric, creating 3.7 xG in comparison to just 0.5 xG from Southampton.

Details

Statistics

Aftermath and reaction

It was the second time in Premier League history, since the league's inception in 1992, that Manchester United had recorded a 9–0 victory; the first was in

March 1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

against

. The next 9–0 scoreline in the league's history also saw Southampton on the losing side, having lost at home to

in October 2019. Among the three wins, this was the only one without any player scoring a hat-trick. Excluding Bednarek's own goal, Manchester United had seven players on the score sheet, equalling the record for the most players to have scored for the same team in a single match in Premier League history, set by Chelsea in an 8–0 win over

in December 2012. The result moved Manchester United level on points with Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table on 44 points, although City's goal difference was still better by five goals, despite United's winning margin; City also had two games in hand; a 2–0 away win over

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

the following night restored their three-point advantage at the top of the table. City and United would finish first and second at the end of the season. After the defeat, Jankewitz was subjected to racist abuse on social media, which Southampton passed on to the

Hampshire Constabulary The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the counties of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in South East England.Hampshire Constabulary, 2012 Retrieved 27 April 2012 The force area in ...

. Southampton appealed the red card issued to Bednarek, which was subsequently rescinded by

The Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

. Southampton also requested that Mike Dean and Lee Mason not officiate their future fixtures. In August 2022, the result was equalled by

's 9–0 win over

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

, the fourth match in Premier League history to be won by such a scoreline.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manchester United F.C. 9-0 Southampton F.C. 2020–21 Premier League Premier League matches

Southampton F.C. matches Record association football wins February 2021 sports events in the United Kingdom 2020s in Greater Manchester