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September 4, 2012

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Van Persie's late show rescues United at Saints

ROBIN van Persie made up for an embarrassing failure from the penalty spot by grabbing a hat-trick with two late goals in Manchester United's dramatic 3-2 win at Southampton on Sunday, earning the Reds a second straight win in the Premier League.

In a fitting way to mark United manager Alex Ferguson's 1,000th league game in charge, Van Persie equalized in the 87th minute before heading home a corner in the second minute of injury time for his fourth goal since joining from Arsenal for 24 million pounds (US$38 million) in the offseason.

Also, Aston Villa earned its first point of the campaign with a 1-1 draw at Aston Villa, only being denied victory because of Hatem Ben Arfa's stunning second-half equalizer.

Van Persie's late show, which took him to 100 Premier League goals in 197 games, will have come as a mighty relief for the Netherlands striker, after his impudent chipped penalty was clawed away by goalkeeper Kelvin Davis in the 68th minute. The score was 2-1 to Southampton at the time and United looked headed for a second loss in three games before Van Persie's last-gasp intervention.

"I don't know what I was thinking with the penalty. I was going to hit it hard but at the last second I changed my mind," Van Persie said. "I'm quite disappointed about it. I ask certain standards from my game and at 2-1 down you cannot take a penalty like that."

Having started the season with a 0-1 loss at Everton, United is now fifth with six points, one behind neighbor and reigning champion Manchester City.



 

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