Fulham - 2 Southampton - 0 Louis Saha has no need to play the flirt to encourage suitors but Manchester United may interpret the Frenchman's two goals here as coquettish.Such is the lure of Old Trafford that Alex Ferguson expects to exert a magnetic effect on Saha, despite the striker never having asked for a move.
But, for the time being at least, the United manager's overtures will remain unrequited.
Much as Saha would love one day to wear United's famous shirt, he would prefer to avoid the disruption of a mid-season move, and his value to his club far exceeds the £5.5m Ferguson offered last week. Saha ploughs his lone furrow with such success that his 62nd-minute penalty was his 12th goal of the season.
"We don't need to sell before we buy, so I'm in a pretty good position," said Fulham manager Chris Coleman. "We don't want to sell any player, and certainly not Louis - not halfway through the season."
Fulham, as Coleman protested, are more than just Saha. "He's important to us but he fits in with our system," said Coleman. "He's a great player who bangs in goals but there are 10 men behind him working their socks off."
Among them is Steed Malbranque, who showed his worth after less than 20 minutes in slaloming past Paul Telfer and Danny Higginbotham.
His one-two with Lee Clark then cut out Jason Dodd on the edge of Saints' area. The French playmaker slipped the ball to Saha, who dispatched it coolly past Antti Niemi.
Southampton, without Marian Pahars and with Chris Marsden in central midfield, were shorn of the crosses that are the staple fodder of their strikers James Beattie and Brett Ormerod. To a large extent, though, they were the architects of their own downfall.
Malbranque continued to orchestrate play and hit a fine crossfield ball that saw Saha denied by Niemi, who then kept out Junichi Inamoto's rebound.
The substitute Kevin Phillips might have stolen a point for Southampton with a long-range shot that brought a scrambling save out of Van der Sar, though a just result was finally secured when Marsden brought down Boa Morte in the box, allowing Saha to double the lead.
FULHAM: Van der Sar; Volz, Knight, Goma, Bonnissel (Harley 23), Inamoto, Clark, Boa Morte, Malbranque, Djetou, Saha. Subs Not Used: Crossley, Melville, Sava, Hayles. Goals: Saha 19, 63 pen.
SOUTHAMPTON: Niemi; Dodd, Lundekvam, Svensson, Higginbotham, Marsden, McCann (Delgado 73), Prutton, Telfer, Beattie, Ormerod (Phillips 51). Subs Not Used: Blayney, Anders Svensson, Baird. Booked: Michael Svensson, Prutton.
Referee: D Gallagher (Oxfordshire).
