It may not have had the excitement of the 6-3, it may not have had the shirt changing of the 3-1, it may not have had more than one goal but yesterday's 1-0 win was as special as any of Saints' famous home victories against Manchester United over the years.

This memorable defeat of the Premiership champions was typical Gordon Strachan stuff.

The Saints boss admitted before the game that against a team of United's calibre you have to work hard and hope for a bit of luck... and that's exactly what they did.

From the front to the back they ran tirelessly to close down, hassle and harry Sir Alex Ferguson's team. They denied them time on the ball and space to play in.

But it wasn't all about negative and destructive football - Saints showed they can also play a bit.

When they attacked they tried to get the ball forward quickly, they played neat triangles to keep possession.

And it's hard to argue they didn't deserved their win.

It's tough to single out individuals in such a great team performance but Matthew Oakley and Paul Telfer in the centre of midfield were outstanding.

Telfer's inclusion in place of the injured Rory Delap summed up Saints' game plan - run, run, run. And then run some more. 'The engine', as he should be known, sure did that.

Oakley, meanwhile, was pure class. It's absolutely no coincidence that when he's been at the very pinnacle of his game Saints have defeated Arsenal and Manchester United at St Mary's.

His ability to outshine the likes of Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira says all you need to know. Sven-Goran Eriksson was in the stands watching - he should take notice.

But this win was not about one or two players doing well but a collective effort that started with James Beattie and Kevin Phillips defending from the front.

The secret to beating Manchester United for any team that are not world beaters themselves is to match their work rate and commitment, better it if you can, try and stop them scoring and nick a goal yourself.

If you go toe-to-toe and slug it out going for the jugular, you'll get beaten.

But if ever there was the perfect example of how you can stop the, at times, seemingly unstoppable it was provided here.

Videos of this performance will be watched by Premiership managers up and down the country. Many of them will use Strachan's approach as a blueprint.

As early as the second minute Saints were in amongst United as Telfer's low shot went just wide of the post and then four minutes later Phil Neville appeared to block a blasted shot with his arms in the air inside the area but got away with it.

Phillips, Graeme Le Saux and Neil McCann also had Tim Howard briefly worried in the first half.

But the most impressive thing was how Saints contained United.

They restricted them to just three half-chances in the first 45 minutes as Ryan Giggs flicked on Gary Neville's cross but Paul Jones mopped up the danger.

Just after the half-hour mark Diego Forlan found Ruud van Nistelrooy but the Dutchman curled his effort into the arms of Jones, who was also in action two minutes before the break to stop Forlan's shot.

In the second half it was just as cagey as United tried to break down the resolute Saints, who in turn looked as though they could snatch a goal.

On 50 minutes Beattie fired across goal from a tight angle and after 67 minutes Phillips turned Mikael Silvestre inside out and fired a low shot which Howard did well to get down to and turn wide.

Claus Lundekvam also almost provided an unlikely goal when his header was pushed away by Howard, while Beattie's header from Fabrice Fernandes' cross was spectacularly turned over.

United had threatened twice with Giggs hitting the bar with a free-kick that wouldn't have counted because of an offside flag and through Forlan's 20-yard shot that needed a brilliant diving save from Jones to turn it over.

But with two minutes remaining the hard work paid off.

Le Saux swung in a superb left footed, right wing corner, Howard got stuck in a group of players and Beattie had the time to head home from a couple of yards out.

St Mary's went wild. It was another special day in the life of a Saints fan.