Beattie header sinks Red Devils
Southampton had been denied on several occasions by the goalkeeping of Tim Howard, but with Manchester United failing to show their normal flair, The Saints worked hard defensively and finally grabbed a deserved goal three minutes from time.
Southampton defended stoutly and attacked with verve throughout and after seeing Paul Telfer go close with a drive from range in the opening exchanges, they then felt hard done to when Phil Neville escaped unpunished after blocking a Matt Oakley drive with his hands inside his own penalty area.
United lacked the flair that the absent Paul Scholes brings to their midfield, and it was Southampton that could, and perhaps, should have opened the scoring after the break when the impressive Kevin Phillips was put through, cut back inside marker Mikael Silvestre, but saw his shot well saved by Howard.
Howard then showed great improvisation to smuggle away a Claus Lundekvam header that looked likely to cause major problems, and, after Ryan Giggs's brilliant free-kick had rattled the crossbar, the United goalkeeper did superbly to deny a Beattie header that looked destined for the back of the net.
But Southampton, to their credit, never gave up, and with the fans buoyed by a tremendous save from Paul Jones, that denied the otherwise ineffective Diego Forlan, roared for a winner.
Beattie's hero status at Southampton is already guaranteed following his prolific last season, but the former Blackburn man is now acquiring the handy habit of being in the right place at the right time.
The striker could not believe his luck when the ball came through a crowd of players from Graeme Le Saux's last gasp corner and he nodded home from just yards out to end an unbeaten Premiership run for United that had stretched back to 2002.
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Southampton v Man Utd
