De Ligt particularly praises his ManU teammate, who “changed the game” against Southampton

Matthijs de Ligt thanked Andre Onana for turning the game around as Man Utd beat Southampton 3-0 in the Premier League on Saturday.

De Ligt and Marcus Rashford scored shortly after Onana saved a penalty, putting Erik ten Hag's Man Utd on course for a much-needed win at newly promoted Southampton.

Both teams returned from the international break desperately needing a result, with the Saints looking to pick up their first point since returning to the Premier League against a team still reeling from a humiliating home defeat to rivals Liverpool.

Southampton started well but collapsed after Onana saved Cameron Archer’s weak penalty. De Ligt’s first Manchester United Goal and Rashford's first goal of the season to put an end to the Saints.

Alejandro Garnacho added a last-minute gloss to a win that eased some of the pressure on Ten Hag, who, after two consecutive defeats, could not afford to let the Red Devils lose for the first time at St Mary's since 2003.

But Dutch international De Ligt – who endured a nightmarish half-time break with Holland – thanked Onana for turning the tide for Man Utd with his penalty save.

De Ligt said TNT Sports: “The win was obviously very important. I think if you get three points from three games, that's not enough. So there was some pressure, but I think we played very well today. Big compliments to Andre Onana who saved a really important penalty. He changed the game for us.”

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De Ligt added of the goal from a set piece: “We have worked on a few set pieces, this one was not quite standard but it was from a good place. It's my wife's birthday so this is for her!”

After making a series of mistakes on international duty, De Ligt was asked if he had anything to prove. He replied: “Not necessarily anything to prove. Sometimes things don't go as well as you would like, but you have to look on the positive side.”

“I'm happy that I played one and a half games. It's been a long time since I played games. This is my third game in a week. It's important for me to get into the rhythm and I can show a little more what I can do.”

When asked how he has enjoyed playing for Man Utd so far, De Ligt replied: “I'm enjoying it a lot. We have a great squad, great guys. A lot of young people who need to grow and want to grow. Hopefully we can get more results like this and grow as a team.”

Regarding his fitness after being substituted, De Ligt replied: “I'm fine, I just had a little cramp in the last four minutes. It's the first time in probably five months that I've played three games in a row. I wanted to play until the end.”