LONDON – Hat-trick hero Robin van Persie scored two late goals to prevent newly-promoted Southampton ruining Sir Alex Ferguson’s 1 000th league match in charge as Manchester United manager last night.
The Dutch striker headed in Nani’s injury-time corner after levelling from close range to cap a dramatic recovery.
Southampton led through Rickie Lambert and Morgan Schneiderlin headers, either side of Van Persie’s first equaliser. Van Persie also missed a 68th-minute penalty, when United trailed 2-1.
At Anfield, Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla ended Arsenal’s barren start to the Premier League season in an impressive 2-0 victory at Liverpool yesterday that condemned the hosts to their worst start in 50 years.
One point from the opening three games under new manager Brendan Rodgers represents the worst opening to a league campaign since 1962-1963 for a Liverpool team which was not helped by a mistake by goalkeeper Pepe Reina which gifted Cazorla his goal.
The manner of the defeat, against an Arsenal team which had failed to score in the first two matches of the new season, was particularly disappointing given Rodgers’ failure to sign a new forward before the transfer window closed on Friday.
With England centre-forward Andy Carroll having been allowed to join West Ham on loan, Rodgers had expected to sign Fulham’s Clint Dempsey as his replacement.
But Tottenham signed the American instead and that failure, plus the evidence of their opening three games, suggests this will be a trying season for the Merseyside club.
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Arsenal’s first league goal in 211 minutes of the new campaign came in the 31st minute at Anfield and was a devastating example of the art of the counter-attack.
Podolski started the move inside his own half, taking a pass from his back line and moving the ball on to Cazorla before starting a sprint into the Liverpool area.
The German forward timed his run to perfection, arriving on the end of Cazorla’s angled pass to beat Reina from 12 yards.
That was also the first real chance of a drab opening between two clubs long considered among the true giants of the European game, but currently struggling to maintain their status among the English elite.
Liverpool appear to be in the greater trouble and might have been in further trouble before the interval from another Arsenal break that ended with a superb pass from Abou Diaby to Olivier Giroud which the Frenchman shot woefully wide from eight yards.
In another match, Aston Villa held Newcastle United to a 1-1 draw to pick up their first point of the season.
