SOUTHAMPTON: Two clinical finishes from Robin van Persie gave Manchester United a 2-1 victory against Southampton in the Premier League on Monday, despite the visitors being pegged back for much of the game at St. Mary’s.

The Dutchman scored with United’s only two efforts on target in each half as Louis van Gaal’s side, who were distinctly second best for much of the game, continued their recent resurgence and climb to third in the table with their fifth win a row.

Southampton dropped to fifth behind West Ham United after their third straight loss against the teams they hope to challenge for a top-four spot — Manchester City, Arsenal and United.

United have 28 points, five behind rivals City in second and eight less than leaders Chelsea while Southampton have 26 points, one point behind West Ham.

“I don’t think we played our best football today,” Van Persie said. “In the end, it’s a fifth straight victory. We’re on the way up.”

Van Persie punished a wasteful performance from the home side, who created enough chances to win the game comfortably.

He exploited a blunder by Jose Fonte to put United ahead in the 12th minute, and went unmarked to meet Wayne Rooney’s free kick at the far post to poke in the 71st-minute winner after Graziano Pelle had levelled for Southampton in the 31st, ended a personal goal drought dating back to October.

“We deserved more, but on this level the difference is detail in the game and how you handle it when opponents make mistakes,” said Southampton manager Ronald Koeman. “I said to the lads: ‘We didn’t lose against United, we lost against ourselves.’”

Published in Dawn December 10th , 2014