CEDRIC felt Saints were dealt another blow after being pegged back by Manchester United.

Stuart Armstrong put Saints ahead before the Portuguese defender doubled their lead with an unstoppable free-kick that left David De Gea no chance.

But Jose Mourinho’s United side fought back in the first half with two goals of their own and Cedric felt the visitors were fortunate to leave St Mary’s with a point.

“We had a good start and scored two good goals,” Cedric said.

“But after that they came back. They have a good team and we possibly slowed down a little bit.

“I thought we were the better team in the second half and I felt we controlled the game and we tried to get the third as we wanted to give three points to the fans.

“Man United are a very big team and have a lot of individual quality.

“We were all alive today and we were all together as a unit. We changed a few things and we seemed to be a little bit more solid than last week.

“But of course, last week we were the better team and it was a case of bad luck. We were the better team again today and it is just a fine line.

“There are a lot of positives that have come out of this game.”

Cedric scored Saints’ first free-kick in the Premier League since James Ward-Prowse’s effort against West Brom back in February.

It was the defender’s 100th top-flight appearance for Mark Hughes’ side on Saturday and he marked the occasion with his first goal in the league.

The 27-year-old explained that he regularly takes free-kicks at Staplewood in the hope taking one on the pitch. 

Cedric added: “We all work hard and there are three or four players who practice free-kicks and I am one of them.

“It was a good position for me and it was a good goal. I am happy with it of course, but I would be even more happy if we managed to get the win.”