Defender Jan Bednarek vowed Saints would graft after their unbeaten run came to an end and said: “Hard work will be the key now.” Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men looked to have been in the box seat against Manchester United at St Mary’s thanks to Bednarek’s first-half headed opener and a sublime James Ward-Prowse free-kick. But back roared United to come from two down to seal a 3-2 success – with two goals from substitute Edinson Cavani and one from Portuguese playmaker Bruno Fernandes. Defeat meant Saints finally succumbed to a loss, having gone unbeaten in seven top-flight fixtures and picked up 17 points from a possible 21.
Jan Bednarek said “We are doing well but hard work will be the key now. I felt like we did very well in the first half. We had the game under control, they couldn’t create any chances. But in the second half I think we felt a little bit too comfortable and were a little too sloppy. That’s what happened there. Only one good half isn’t enough. We still managed to have some chances but it wasn’t enough. We still need to work very hard to get something. We are in the right moment and we will work to get better. It’s very important to show a reaction that we are still learning, we are still not the best team in the world and that’s how we have to do it, The next game will be very important to prove that we are in a good moment, that we are strong and we can show qualities. We know we can be dangerous for a lot of opposition and that’s what we will try to do week in, week out – to create problems for our opposition and show the same qualities as we did in the first half.”
