Saha and fans give Fergie perfect tonic

Louis Saha combined with a packed-out Old Trafford to give embattled Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson the perfect tonic.

Twelve-million-pound striker Saha marked his debut Saturday by scoring one goal and making another as United returned to the top of the Premiership after an entertaining 3-2 win over Southampton.

But the biggest cheers of the day were all reserved for Ferguson as the fans made clear whose side they are on in the ongoing feud between the United boss and the club's biggest shareholder, Irish racing tycoon John Magnier.

If Magnier and his business partner JP McManus do seriously entertain ideas of forcing Ferguson out of his job -- as their recent actions seem to imply -- they have been given due warning that they will face ferocious resistance from the supporters who underwrite the value of their investment in the club.

Cheered long and loud on his emergence from the tunnel, Ferguson was treated to another standing ovation from the 67,758-strong crowd five minutes into the match.

It was certainly not United's form that was putting the fans in such good voice with the visitors creating enough chances at both ends of the match to have come away with at least a point.

They certainly enjoyed the better of the early chances. Tim Howard denied Rory Delap with his feet after Graeme le Saux had picked the midfielder out in the box and Saints skipper Jason Dodd was fractionally off target with a chip after robbing Paul Scholes deep in United territory.

But with 17 minutes gone Delap pulled back Cristiano Ronaldo on the edge of the area and Saha stepped up to fire a left-footed free-kick into the net with the help of a huge deflection off the head of Kevin Phillips.

The goal may have been fortunate but there were unmistakable signs of Saha forging an immediate understanding with Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Both strikers were involved in the slick one-touch move which finished with Saha unleashing a 25-yard shot that Antti Niemi was unable to hold. Paul Scholes swept home the loose ball to put United two ahead eight minutes from the break.

Southampton pulled a goal back immediately, a long-range effort from Phillips clipping Brett Ormerod's thigh sufficiently to change the direction of the ball and leave Howard flat-footed.

Phillips did not need any assistance to beat the United goalkeeper with a 30-yard strike that put his side back on level terms eight minutes after the break.

It was a supremely clean strike from Phillips but it will not have been lost on Ferguson that his opportunity to shoot came as a consequence of Wes Brown conceding possession with a careless chip out of defence.

Southampton could have gone ahead minutes later when Howard did well to close down Ormerod and deflect his shot from a tight angle wide of his near post.

Southampton paid the price of that miss just after the hour mark when van Nistelrooy pounced in the six-yard box to force the ball into the net after Brown's shot was blocked.

United fans will have gone home convinced they thoroughly deserved the winner having just been denied what appeared to be a clear cut penalty when Fabrice Fernandes blocked a Ronaldo free-kick from the right with his hands just inside the area.

The linesman judged he had been standing just outside but United's sense of injustice was assuaged when the second free-kick led to the scramble which finished with van Nistelrooy's 99th goal for the club.

Southampton were desperately unlucky not to snatch an equaliser in the closing stages. Danny Higginbotham had a spectacular overhead kick touched on to the bar by Howard and Phillips came within inches of connecting with a low cross and completing his hat-trick but United held on to move a point clear of Arsenal at the top of the table.

The Gunners can restore their two point lead if they beat Manchester City at Highbury on Sunday.