Forlan enjoying new status

Manchester Utd - 2 Southampton - 1 Diego Forlan, like the Queen, has just remembered something that, had it come to him earlier, would have prevented public embarrassment and allegations of vast quantities of money going to waste. He has been sneered at, patronised and scapegoated (and that's just by the Manchester United fans), but the alleged scoring prowess which persuaded Alex Ferguson to pay £7 million for him was not, after all, a figment of the manager's imagination.

For long periods of Forlan's first 10 months at Old Trafford it has felt that way but, now that he has rediscovered the goalscorer's art, his critics are being trampled in the stampede of righteous souls professing to have always recognised his hidden qualities.

Football is an unashamedly fickle business so perhaps it should come as no surprise that goals on successive weekends have propelled him into this new status from a position, not so long ago, when tabloid newspapers were comparing him to Norman Wisdom.

Certainly the Uruguayan will have picked up some new words for his English vocabulary after the superlatives that accompanied his late and decisive contribution to this absorbing encounter. And maybe a couple of swearwords, too, considering the shenanigans that went with trying to get his shirt back on after the bare-chested celebrations.

As harsh as it may sound, however, it is unlikely Ferguson was taken in. It is one of the manager's more endearing traits that, whatever his private reservations, he is unwavering in his public support of his players. Had he not been, it is probable that Forlan would have disappeared into his cocoon long before now.

Naturally, then, Ferguson will have cherished Forlan's piéce de résistance, just as every Mancunian inside Old Trafford will have felt the explosion of joy that comes when a dash of impromptu brilliance conjures up something out of the ordinary.

Yet Ferguson is employed to see the bigger picture, and one goal, however beguiling, may not be enough just yet to allay his private concerns about whether Forlan is equipped to play a significant part in the title race, nor will it eradicate a suspicion that, when the transfer window reopens, a new arrival will demote the young forward (37 appearances, three goals) to fifth-choice striker.

The pragmatist in Ferguson will have been just as pleased on Saturday by the form of some of those players liable to have a more durable role. For starters, this was arguably Rio Ferdinand's finest performance in a red jersey, having confessed to being dissatisfied with his form since his defection from Leeds.

Gary Neville was not far behind, restoring a dictatorial presence in defence that was largely missing during his five months out with a broken foot. There are still concerns about Ryan Giggs's erratic form, not helped by the crackle of dissent at his every mistake.

That there were only five minutes remaining when Forlan's long-range shot, swerving and dipping like a plastic ball on a windy beach, beat Antti Niemi in Southampton's goal might not have impressed some of the United fans who have grown accustomed to seeing their team beat such opponents with more ease.

It was certainly hard not to sympathise with a Southampton side whose response to conceding the first goal, Phil Neville's shot having taken a slight yet crucial deflection off Wayne Bridge's instep, incorporated a splendid equaliser from Fabrice Fernandes within three minutes and a performance brimming with purpose and endeavour. "They are better players than I thought," Gordon Strachan reflected proudly.

He was wrong, however, to blame the defeat on his "bad decision" to substitute Brett Ormerod with Rory Delap. The truth is that no manager could legislate for a goal as sumptuous as Forlan's.

MANCHESTER UTD: Barthez, Gary Neville, Blanc, Ferdinand, Silvestre (Solskjaer 68), Beckham, Veron, Phil Neville (Forlan 79), Giggs, van Nistelrooy (O'Shea 87), Scholes. Subs not used: Ricardo, Fortune. Goals: Phil Neville 15, Forlan 85.

SOUTHAMPTON: Niemi, Bridge, Lundekvam, Michael Svensson, Dodd, Marsden (Delgado 88), Anders Svensson, Oakley, Fernandes, Ormerod (Delap 74), Beattie. Subs not used: Jones, Hall, Telfer. Booked: Dodd. Goal: Fernandes 18.

Referee: U Rennie (Yorkshire)