The mark of a good team is they play poorly and win. Not as poorly as this, mind you. Manchester United were very ordinary indeed.
Still, this is their fifth consecutive victory under Louis van Gaal and they have clawed their way up to third in the Premier League, so they must have something.
What they had on Monday night was a world-class finisher in Robin van Persie. Since his title-winning first season at United he has often been criticised, but this was one of those occasions when he was the difference.
Poor defending from Southampton — horrid for the first goal, in fact — was equally responsible for United’s win, but a lesser striker would not have taken his only two chances of the game with such assurance. To nutmeg the goalkeeper twice is no accident. Van Persie knew what he was doing.
If only the same could be said for the rest of his team. United’s defence still has little on its side but mystery at times, and Marouane Fellaini is as capable of having a bad game as a good one.
Credit Van Gaal with swiftness of thought, though. Sensing that Fellaini was struggling in the heart of midfield, he introduced Ander Herrera at the expense of Paddy McNair after 39 minutes. Having already lost Chris Smalling to injury, it was a bold move.
United were impressive in the last 20 minutes when, having gone in front against the run of play for a second time, they toughed it out as the better teams do. David de Gea was impressive in that period, so too Jonny Evans, Smalling’s replacement. He hadn’t played a League game since September but held up well to what little Southampton had to offer by that time.
To be fair, they looked stunned at what had unfolded. At 1-1 many here were no doubt thinking of this as two points dropped. Suddenly they had surrendered all three.
Quality players make the difference. Van Persie had two good chances and scored two goals. Shane Long was in similarly excellent positions either side of half-time and missed both. The game was won and lost right there.
There were 12 minutes gone when Van Persie gave United the lead from their first attack of note. Credit to Wayne Rooney, who did well to apply pressure to centre-half Jose Fonte, but he cannot have expected to force such a thoughtlessly blind backpass. It fell to the prowling Van Persie, leaving him one-on-one with Fraser Forster.
England’s understudy advanced but Van Persie’s smart finish went straight through his legs. At that point, it looked as if it might be another sobering occasion for Southampton against their superiors, following reverses to Manchester City and Arsenal.
But no. Ronald Koeman’s team quickly rallied and within three minutes, Graziano Pelle had headed a Steven Davis corner just wide.
From Southampton’s next attack, they were level. Fellaini played a desperately poor pass straight to the feet of Davis who went on a marauding run into the area, feeding Pelle, who was tackled. The ball ran to Long wide on the right and his cross was met by Dusan Tadic, whose shot was charged down, only for Pelle to finish from close range.
And that set the pattern for the next 40 minutes at least. Southampton should have been three clear when United scored. In first-half injury time, Nathaniel Clyne crossed from the right, Sadio Mane won the ball and it fell to Long, who missed an excellent opportunity.
The second half was little more than five minutes old when Tadic crossed to the far post for Long, who again squandered the chance.
After 60 minutes, Tadic played the pass of the night to put Pelle in, but Southampton were found wanting in front of goal a third time.
Still, that is his sixth goal in 14 appearances for United this season, not the worst return, and Van Gaal’s team are finally finding ways to win. Liverpool visit on Sunday — the match Sir Alex Ferguson always regarded as the biggest of the season — and United have the forward momentum in that match-up now, make no mistake.
For Southampton, it gets no easier. Everton, Chelsea and Arsenal are all to come in quick succession, and in the past nine days they have dropped from second to fifth, West Ham United now stealing their thunder as underdogs among the Champions League elite.
Koeman will be only too aware that Southampton’s defeats this season have all come against the biggest clubs — Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Manchester City, now Manchester United — and they will have to overcome that fear of heights in the second half of the season if it is not to drift towards anti-climax.
Manchester United fans, meanwhile, will dream of chasing down first City, then Chelsea, just like the good old days. They will need to play better than this, though. Good teams find a way to win when playing badly; but they don’t make a career out of it.
