SOUTHAMPTON, England - Two clinical finishes from Robin van Persie gave Manchester United a 2-1 victory against Southampton in the Premier League on Monday, despite the visitors being pegged back for much of the game at St. Marys.Van Persie scored with Uniteds only two efforts on target to give Louis van Gaals side its fifth win a row and overtake Southampton in third place. Southampton dropped to fifth behind West Ham after its third straight loss against the teams it hopes to challenge for a top-four spot — Manchester City, Arsenal and United.Van Persie punished a wasteful performance from the home side, which created enough chances to win the game comfortably.He took advantage of a defensive blunder to put United ahead after 12 minutes, and went unmarked to meet Wayne Rooneys free kick at the far post to poke in the winner after Graziano Pelle had levelled for Southampton in the 31st.I dont think we played our best football today, Van Persie said. In the end, its a fifth straight victory. Were on the way up.Uniteds opener came when Southampton captain Jose Fonte hit a poor backpass to goalkeeper Fraser Forster and Van Persie ran through, waited for Forster to dive and stroked the ball through his legs and into the far corner.But United was unable to build any momentum from its goal, as Southampton relentlessly attacked in search of an equalizer.It finally came after Marouane Fellaini gave the ball away in midfield, and Dusan Tadic initiated a quick attack. He played the ball out to Shane Long on the edge of the area, who returned it with a high cross. Tadics effort was blocked by Paddy McNair, but the ball fell to Pelle who converted from close range.Long could have put Ronald Koemans side ahead in the 34th but blasted high and wide from close range after McNair failed to clear a touch from Sadio Mane.Southamptons dominance was so strong that Van Gaal felt compelled to take off the struggling McNair in the 39th and replace him with Ander Herrera.But it was Southampton that continued to threaten in the second half.Tadic floated an inviting ball across the penalty area toward Long, who was only able to head straight at David De Gea.Southampton missed another chance in the 57th when the Serbia international threaded the ball into Pelle, only for the Italy striker to lift his shot over.Eventually, a chance fell Uniteds way and Van Persie punished Southampton in the 71st.Rooney whipped an inviting free kick into Southamptons area and Van Persie ran unmarked to the back post to prod in Uniteds winner.The defensive lapses, alongside an array of missed attacking chances, left Koeman fuming.We lost not to Manchester United tonight, we lost to ourselves, Koeman said. We did everything. We created chances. We did mistakes, maybe they did more mistakes but they had players who handle that type of mistake and that was the difference. Nigel Williams-Goss Jersey . Jeter doubled high off the left-field wall and scored on Jacoby Ellsburys first hit in pinstripes in the fifth. Hiroki Kuroda (1-1) pitched 6 1-3 sharp innings in the Yankees 112th opener in New York. In what manager Joe Girardi said would be a season-long lovefest for Jeter, the shortstop was cheered every step of the way by an adoring crowd of 48, 142 -- even when his double-play grounder back to Orioles starter Ubaldo Jimenez (0-2) scored Solarte in the third inning for the first run. Bob Hansen Jersey . -- John Fox will coach the Denver Broncos from the sideline and not the booth upon his return Sunday five weeks after heart surgery. https://www.cheapjazzonline.com/958e-mike-conley-jersey-jazz.html .500 ball against teams with winning records, so they needed a huge lift from somebody Tuesday night in a matchup of division leaders. Utah Jazz Pro Shop . The Mariners ace allowed just one hit over eight innings while striking out nine, and Robinson Cano backed him with a two-run homer as Seattle earned a 3-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Sunday. Derrick Favors Jersey . According to a report from the Hamilton Spectator, Infrastructure Ontario has informed the City of Hamilton and the Tiger-Cats the stadium may not be ready by the June 30 deadline.Charlotte, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - Joe Johnson scored 22 points and the Brooklyn Nets crushed the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday, 114-87, at Time Warner Cable Arena. Deron Williams had 18 points with 10 assists and Alan Anderson added 17 off the bench for Brooklyn, which had seven players reach double figures. One of them was Cory Jefferson, who went for 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting in his first career start. It has been a while since we have been on the right side of a blowout, said Williams. Mason Plumlee posted his second straight double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds, and Jarrett Jack scored 14 off the bench to help the Nets win their second straight game on the heels of a three-game slide. The Hornets, meanwhile, fell for the 12th time in 14 games after shooting just 39.2 percent from the field. They didnt come out with any energy on Saturday following a double-OT loss to Memphis the night before. There are very few teams that can show up and play and win. Obviously, we wouldnt be one of those, Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said. Thhe Nets led by 10 points at halftime and put the game away with a strong third quarter.dddddddddddd Jefferson scored six points during a 14-0 run midway through the period and bookended the spurt with long jumpers. His 18-footer at 3:57 left the Nets with a 73-49 advantage. It was 85-59 through three, and Charlotte never got closer than 22 in the fourth. Johnson erupted for seven points in the first 1:13 of the game. His short jumper at 7:59 followed Jeffersons basket, and the Nets owned an early 11-2 advantage. Later in the frame, Jeffersons three-point play preceded another Johnson 3, and the lead was 15. Brian Roberts hit from deep with 4.4 seconds left, but Jack banked in a runner as time expired to make it 32-17. The spread reached 17 before Charlotte trimmed the gap to 52-42 at halftime. Game Notes The Nets outscored Charlotte 42-26 in the paint ... Brooklyn shot 42-for-72 (58.3 percent) from the floor ... Michael Kidd-Gilchrist led Charlotte with 15 points off the bench and Roberts scored 14. ' ' '