5 things learned as 10-men Man United draw 0-0 with Southampton in Premier League clash

Manchester United were held to a 0-0 draw against Southampton on Sunday afternoon as Casemiro received his second red card of the season in the Premier League encounter.

Erik ten Hag’s side dropped points in the league for the second game in a row and there were some interesting aspects of the game. We focused on five on those:

Casemiro’s sending off

Casemiro was distraught after his yellow card was changed to red after VAR consultation. A strong challenge from the Brazilian saw his foot bounce from the ball onto the leg of the Southampton player.

Whether or not you agree with the decision, the midfielder will now miss four domestic games due to it being his second straight red card this season. It is a massive miss for United and quite silly of Casemiro to make a challenge like that so early in a game.

His tenacity and tackling ability are crucial in what makes him one of the very best, however, it has now given United a difficult situation to deal with.

Terrible officiating again

Anthony Taylor and Andre Marriner as the match referee and VAR combination is bad news for most teams. United were on the end of another terrible officiating display in the Premier League.

Somehow a penalty was not given in the first half when a Southampton player attempted to make a save to stop the ball from getting to Wout Weghorst. A bizarre decision and it was not the only one. Taylor’s officiating throughout was simply poor.

It’s now what we expect from English referees. This is the standard and it’s extremely worrying.

Lisandro Martinez gets better each week

Barring last week’s outlier, Lisandro Martinez has just been performing better and better as the season goes on. His level was already high but he was near perfect this afternoon.

His calmness and ability with the ball is excellent and he always is one step ahead of his opponent when out of possession.

In what was a difficult game for United and many players, Martinez was one of the few that stood out.

A strange game

The game was open, especially in the second half, but neither team managed to take advantage of their chances. It was one of the most entertaining 0-0’s you’ll watch this season.

Both sides smashed the woodwork and had some open counter-attacks in the late stages of the game. United held on well considering the circumstances.

The league is starting to look difficult

After dropping important points in back-to-back Premier League fixtures, United could see themselves dropping to fourth in the coming weeks, albeit still having games in hand on those around them.

Ten Hag’s side have built a healthy gap on the chasing pack for Champions League football, but they need to just be careful they aren’t dragged back into the battle.