In the 89th minute Saints captain Adam Lallana deflected in Dejan Lovren’s scrappy shot to send the South Coast club wild and condemn United to more misery at the start of the Premier League campaign.
The Red Devils looked shaky throughout and couldn’t really argue with the result at Old Trafford.
They’d taken a first half lead through Robin van Persie, but United looked disjointed and jaded after several of their players had traveled around the globe in midweek internationals.
The draw leaves Southampton in fourth on 15 points, while Manchester United are in eighth spot on eleven points.
It was a bright start from the visitors, who should have gone ahead in the 23rd minute when Victor Wanyama dispossessed Wayne Rooney and found Lallana who slotted Daniel Osvaldo in, but the Italian international struck a weak effort at David de Gea.
And then moments later the Saints were made to pay for that miss, as van Persie put United 1-0 up.
Wayne Rooney was set clean through after a terrific defense splitting pass from Adnan Januzaj, and Rooney forced Artur Boruc into a tremendous save. However, the ball ricocheted back into RVP’s path and the Dutchman tucked the ball home for his fourth PL goal of the season.
Slightly harsh on the Saints after a bright start to the game.
Soon after, Rooney was found in the box by Nani and the England international swiveled before striking his shot against the crossbar as the Red Devils piled on the pressure.
For most of the first half Southampton had the ball and looked composed and patient, however on the break United looked dangerous with Januzaj proving a threat on the left-hand side.
The Saints had a few other chances with Osvaldo, Lallana and Jay Rodriguez looking lively going forward, however the Red Devils went in ahead at the interval despite not impressing.
After the break Southampton again started on the front foot, as Luke Shaw made a great run down the left and Lallana’s shot was cleared away by Johnny Evens for a corner. From the resulting set piece, Dejan Lovren’s header was cleared away by RVP on the post, as the Saints kept their assault on United’s goal going.
But as the second half wore on United ramped up their attack as van Persie and Nani both went close, then Boruc saved superbly from Januzaj in the 62nd minute.
Southampton kept going throughout the second half and pushed forward, leaving themselves exposed on many occasions. But some last-ditch tackles left the Saints in with a chance to grab an equalizer… and that’s exactly what they did.
In the 89th minute an inswinging corner found Dejan Lovren at the back post and the Croatian international bundled the ball towards goals, as they final touch went in off Lallana to send Southampton’s players into raptures in front of their fans in the far right hand corner. It was the third goal Southampton have scored after the 88th minute this season, the most in the PL.
United threatened to try and snatch a late win, but the Saints held on for a point to keep their good start to the season going.
LINEUPS
Manchester United: De Gea; Rafael, Jones, Evans, Evra; Nani (Giggs, 69). Carrick, Fellaini (Welbeck, 76), Januzaj; Rooney (Smalling, 87), van Persie.
Southampton: Boruc, Clyne, Fonte, Lovren, Shaw, Wanyama (Guly, 83), Schneiderlin, S. Davis (Ward-Prowse, 67), Lallana (c), Rodriguez (Lambert, 55), Osvaldo.
