David Beckham was awakened from his early-season slumber on the substitutes' bench to record a Manchester United victory against Southampton that had seemed destined never to arrive. Ronny Johnsen and Ryan Giggs struck the woodwork either side of half-time, but Southampton were still clinging to an improbable point when the England international ran on to a low cross from Giggs in the 78th minute and flashed a powerful shot past Paul Jones.
Despite or perhaps because of the perceived disparity between these two sides, their recent Premiership meetings had tended to teeter precariously from controversy to upset. From grey shirts to an unprecedented 6-3 defeat, The Dell has invariably proved a trying hunting ground for United and, at Old Trafford, Southampton have tended to lift their game to suit the illustrious location.
Last night, Alex Ferguson could bask in the luxury of limiting his £5 million capture Henning Berg to a place on the bench alongside Beckham and Gary Neville, whereas his Southampton counterpart had not only to accommodate the loss of a potential matchwinner in Matt Le Tissier, but a further four players with first-team experience.
True to form, however, the South Coast side forced the game's first clear chance, a dipping free-kick from Lee Todd which Peter Schmeichel did well to hold, before the champions slipped into a higher gear.
The pace of Ryan Giggs and Jordi Cruyff, allied to probing midfield passes, soon stretched the perennial relegation candidates. Cruyff's simple tap-in was ruled out only by a late flag from the referee's assistant, which became a recurring feature of the first half but only hinted at the battering that was to follow.
In the 22nd minute, Jones cleared a Cruyff cross only to Giggs, who drove the ball back into the area where Teddy Sheringham steered an admittedly difficult opportunity wide. Then on the half-hour Johnsen capitalised on good work by Paul Scholes to crash a thudding header against the base of the post. Again Southampton somehow held out.
Berg replaced Johnsen at half-time, but there was little respite for Southampton. A cross from Giggs, who stumbled as he delivered it, deceived Jones in its flight and spun off the crossbar.
Then Beckham struck.
Afterwards United manager Alex Ferguson admitted that his men did not impress in front of a 55,008 crowd, but he acknowledged that a key element of four title successes in five seasons has been United's ability to win when performing below par.
"They're not going to do this to me again, are they?" asked a smiling Ferguson, who claimed last year that United seemed to enjoy the excitement of taking title races to the wire. "We certainly dragged it out tonight and it wasn't a great performance, but Southampton have come here many times and made life difficult for us. Winning is the name of the game and it's so important to win games when you're not playing well."
Ferguson refused to be drawn on the Beckham saga, though, following his policy of giving the midfielder and his England teammate Gary Neville more time to recover from last season's exertions for both club and country. Beckham was left out of the starting line-up for the Charity Shield victory over Chelsea and the season opening win at Tottenham.
"It wouldn't have mattered who scored the goal," said Ferguson, "I would have been delighted regardless. David took it well all right."
Ferguson was instead concerned with praising his team's defensive performance. "I told the players that we can't afford to give away 44 goals like we did last season and expect to win the league. Defending is a priority for us and, in fairness, we did well tonight. And I thought Henning Berg was absolutely superb."
The downside for Ferguson last night was that three of his team got booked: captain Roy Keane for dissent, his Republic of Ireland team-mate Denis Irwin, and Phil Neville.
