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Van Persie: Penalty went wrong, big time

Robin van Persie netted three for Manchester United © PA Photos

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Robin van Persie expressed his relief after a dramatic late winner spared his own blushes following an embarrassing penalty miss in Manchester United's 3-2 victory over Southampton.

Van Persie looked set to end the day as the United villain when, with the score at 2-1 to Saints, he missed a 70th-minute spot-kick. The error came in particularly galling circumstances, with the Dutchman seeing his cheeky chip saved by Kelvin Davis.

However, Van Persie responded by scoring in the 87th and 91st minutes to complete his hat-trick, earning three points for United. And he admitted post-match that the penalty was highly regrettable, revealing it was the result of a split-second change of mind.

"It was a good feeling afterwards," Van Persie said. "I got a bit of luck with the second goal, and then at the end...

"I'm very disappointed with the penalty. When that happens at 2-1 down, you can't take a penalty like that. Something went wrong big time."

Van Persie, who netted his 100th Premier League goal during the match, was given the man-of-the-match award for his efforts at St Mary's, but the Dutchman preferred to praise Paul Scholes, who came on with 29 minutes remaining.

"I have to say a big thank-you to Paul Scholes," he told Sky Sports. "Every single pass he hit was the right one. It was unbelievable. He is man-of-the-match for me."

Sir Alex Ferguson, who oversaw his 1,000th league game in charge of United, agreed with Van Persie's assessment of Scholes, and he also steered clear of criticism regarding the penalty incident.

"I thought Paul Scholes changed the game," Ferguson said. "We controlled the first half and I thought in the second, 'let's get down to business'.

"But Southampton kept crossing the ball and scored two goals from crosses, which is disappointing, but credit to them, they are good at it. But Scholes' vision and passing helped us get complete control.

"[Van Persie] has come up with three important goals. He's got four now in two starts, it's a great statistic."

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