Hat-trick hero Robin van Persie was quick to salute Paul Scholes after the duo inspired Manchester United to a dramatic 3-2 victory against Southampton.

Van Persie took his tally to four goals in two starts for United since his 24 million ($38.1 million) move from Arsenal, with his stoppage-time winner at St Mary's on Sunday taking the striker to 100 Premier League goals.

The Dutch forward's heroics proved United should be able to survive the four-week absence of the injured Wayne Rooney, even though he failed to convert a second half penalty.

But Van Persie insisted the most significant contribution had come from veteran midfielder Scholes, who produced a typically influential display after coming on as a 61st minute substitute shortly after Morgan Schneiderlin had headed the home side into a 2-1 lead.

"I have to say a big thank-you to Paul Scholes, when he came on everything started ticking. Every single pass he hit was the right one. Everyone felt that, I certainly did," Van Persie said.

"He hit a couple of unbelievable passes over 30 meters. With him you are always on your toes because anything can happen with his qualities. For me, he is the man of the match."

Ferguson, who was marking his 1,000th league match as United manager, echoed Van Persie's praise for the 37-year-old midfielder.

"To be honest with you I thought when Paul Scholes came on the pitch it changed the game completely," Ferguson said.

"After Southampton's second I thought we were well out of it until Scholes came on the park. His vision and consistency of passing gave us complete control again then."

Van Persie admitted he feared his penalty blunder, which saw Kelvin Davis save his chipped effort with Saints leading 2-1, would come back to haunt him.

"The penalty was a big set-back," he said. "I wanted to hit it hard in the corner with a good angle on it. Then in a split second I changed my mind and it went wrong. I am quite disappointed with that, it's just me to blame.

"I try to reach a certain standard and missing a penalty like that is not a part of it when you are 2-1 down. I have work on that. After that I was very relieved we had the three points."

(China Daily 09/04/2012 page22)