Manchester Uniteds Edinson Cavani masterstroke ahead of Southampton Premier League clash

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Manchester United go into their match against Southampton looking for a second Premier League win on the spin. And they’ll certainly be aiming for a repeat of last season, when Edinson Cavani came off the bench to inspire them to victory. Express Sport will now take a look back at the masterstroke decision of introducing the Uruguay international and how it kickstarted his career with the club.

Southampton found themselves 2-0 up against United when they met at St Mary’s back in November.

Jan Bednarek put the home side in front in the 23rd minute, with James Ward-Prowse then doubling their advantage 10 minutes later.

United were insipid in the first half and defeat would have damaged their hopes of challenging Manchester City for the Premier League title.

Then, at the interval, United threw on Cavani.

It was a gamble, with the Uruguay international struggling to settle into English football at the time following his arrival from Paris Saint-Germain.

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However, by the time the whistle blew for full time, the veteran had showed everybody what he’s all about.

Bruno Fernandes pulled United back into the contest, as he’s done frequently throughout his time at Old Trafford.

And, after that, it became the Cavani show.

He scored an excellent flying header to level the scores, throwing himself on the end of Fernandes’ deflected slice.

And Cavani then notched at the death, again bagging a header – this time from Marcus Rashford’s delivery – to secure the three points.

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Bringing on the deadly striker was a masterstroke, with United salvaging all three points when, in truth, they were fortunate to get just one.

And Solskjaer was delighted with the 34-year-old after the match, saying: “Great impact of course.

“He is a number nine who wants to be in between the posts, he is always on the move, he wants to get in front of you and I am very pleased with him.

“On the training pitch, in the dressing room and during meal times, how meticulous he is.

“He knows what he wants to eat, how much he wants to recover – everything!

“It was top movement and his timing is fantastic. His hunger to get on the end of things is the key for a centre-forward.

“Sometimes it hurts and sometimes it doesn’t but to score you have to be in there.”

Harry Maguire, too, was buzzing for his team-mate.

“His movement is excellent in the box. He’s the best I’ve played against during training. He is on the move constantly,” he said.

“We know what he has got and can bring to this club. It’s important he kicks on now because he’s a top, top player.”

And with Cavani now back in training, he could be ready to put Southampton to the sword once again.

Solskjaer spoke positively about the Uruguayan in his press conference on Friday, saying: “Edinson’s always looked after himself.

“Of course, he’s lacking in team training, in football training but he’s been looking after himself and you can see that.

“He had different reasons as to why he was late, personal reasons, but his body can tolerate a lot. It wasn’t that he needed those extra days physically.

“He’s chomping at the bit, he’s ready to go and let’s see how much we can get out of him early on.”

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