The Red Devils, however, surely did not look like a team with everything to play for Saturday.
After it watched Tottenham and Arsenal draw 1-1 in the North London Derby (thanks to Pierre Emerick Aubameyang), Manchester United took the pitch at Old Trafford knowing it would move into the top four with a victory, and to within three points of Tottenham for third spot.
The Red Devils, however, surely did not look like a team with everything to play for Saturday.
It took Ole Gunnar Solskjaer bringing Diogo Dalot into the mix to chance the complexion of the match, and even then, Manchester United needed an 88th minute winner from Romelu Lukaku, to hold off 17th place Southampton.
Now, after both teams contest midweek European matches, Manchester United will travel to London to take on Arsenal in what looks likely to be one of the biggest matches left in the Premier League season. The Gunners blew a chance to cut the gap between them and Tottenham to one when Aubameyang missed a penalty in the final minute of the contest, after Harry Kane scored from the spot.
The Kane penalty was marred in controversy, as the striker was clearly offside before he was fouled in the box by Shkodran Mustafi. But with the spoils shared, it is now all to play for in the top four battle.
PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS
Arsenal 1-1 Tottenham
Bournemouth 0-1 Manchester City
Brighton & Hove Albion 1-0 Huddersfield Town
Burnley 1-3 Crystal Palace
Manchester United 3-2 Southampton
Wolverhampton 2-0 Cardiff City
West Ham United 2-0 Newcastle United
OTHER NOTABLE EUROPEAN RESULTS
Real Madrid 0-1 Barcelona
Porto 1-2 Benfica
SATURDAY’S THREE STARS
Raul Jimenez, Wolverhampton
Had a goal and an assist, to lead Wolverhampton to a win over Cardiff. Jimenez rated out at an 8.71 on Whoscored.com, just behind team mate Romain Saiss for Man of the Match.
Romelu Lukaku, Manchester United
Just when it looked like the Red Devils had blown their opportunity to move into the top four, Lukaku came up with his second goal of the day, to snatch all three points. He was the Whoscored.com Man of the Match with an 8.89 rating.
Declan Rice, West Ham United
Scored the opener for the Hammers, who moved into ninth place with their win over Newcastle. Rice was the Whoscored.com Man of the Match with an 8.40 rating.
Tottenham falls out of title race, into top four battle
BRIGHTON GETS HUGE WIN, TO EASE RELEGATION THREAT
The Seagulls had sunk towards the relegation zone in recent weeks, but came away with a 1-0 win over Huddersfield Town. Brighton now sits even on points with Burnley, but with a vastly superior goal difference (minus-11 to minus-21).
Crystal Palace won to move onto 33 points, and into 13th, just behind sinking Bournemouth.
With Huddersfield and Fulham all but scheduling their EFL Championship matches net season, the third relegation spot is looking more likely to be a battle between Cardiff City and Southampton.
But if Southampton plays like it did Saturday at Old Trafford, it may be two of the three newly-promoted sides that head straight back down to the Championship.
Sunday
Watford vs. Leicester City, 7 a.m. (NBC Sports and Fubo.tv)
Fulham vs. Chelsea, 9:05 a.m. (NBC Sports and Fubo.tv)
Everton vs. Liverpool, 11:15 a.m. (NBC Sports and Fubo.tv)
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ROUND OF 16 SECOND LEG
(All times EST)
Tuesday
Dortmund vs. Tottenham (Spurs lead 3-0 on agg.), 3 p.m. (Galavision and Fubo.tv)
Real Madrid vs. Ajax (Real Madrid leads 2-1 on agg.), 3 p.m. (TNT and Fubo.tv)
Wednesday
PSG vs. Manchester United (PSG leads 2-0 on agg.), 3 p.m. (TNT and Fubo.tv)
Porto vs. Roma (Roma leads 2-1 on agg.), 3 p.m. (Galavision and Fubo.tv)
UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE ROUND OF 16 FIRST LEG
(Return legs Thursday, March 14)
Thursday
Dinamo Zagreb vs. Benfica, 12:55 p.m.
Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Inter Milan, 12:55 p.m.
Rennes vs. Arsenal. 12:55 p.m.
Sevilla vs. Slavia Praha, 12:55 p.m.
Zenit vs. Villareal, 12:55 p.m.
Chelsea vs. Dynamo Kyiv, 3 p.m.
Napoli vs. Red Bull, 3 p.m.
Valencia vs. Krasnodar, 3 p.m.
Contact Sean Miller at seanmillertrentontimes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheProdigalSean His podcast, Box to Box Football, can be found on iTunes here https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/box-to-box-football/id1208561351?mt=2 His Youtube channel can be watched here