Southampton Wannabe vs The Real Southampton

Southamptons first match of the new season was against rival Liverpool who snuck up 3 big names of the Saints so far this transfer window. Coincidently the last name of all 3 players starts with an ‘L’ just like Liverpool themselves. Lovren was the only one of this trio to start, every time he managed to get the ball resulted in loud booing Southampton supporters.

The Southampton fans were loud from the start, as everyone could their ‘When the Saints go marching in…’ song much louder than the Liverpool fans managed to sing ‘You never walk alone’.

The Saints were starting 4 of their new signings. With Fraser Forster in goal, Ryan Bertrand as the left back, Dusan Tadic as the left wing and Graziano Pellè up front in the middle. Besides these 4 singings making their debut in the Premier League for Southampton, we still had Shane Long and Saphir Taïder on the bench. The most surprising thing is that there is no sign at all of our holy goalie Artur Boruc with Kelvin Davis being the substitute goalie.

Liverpool is trying to attack and even manages to get a few little shots within the first 10 minutes. But Fraser Forster is standing so tall that it is hard for Liverpool to beat him.

Raheem Sterling has looked dangerous from the start which makes it even more surprisingly that neither captain José Fonte nor Nathaniel Clyne is marking him, when he gets the ball in the 22nd minute. Sterling shoots from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner and scores. Forster couldn’t have prevented this.

Dusan Tadic gets a free kick in the 33rd minute, which James Ward-Prowse takes. His shot is so accurate that he almost scores, unfortunately Simon Mignolet manages to get his hands on the ball.

It seems like Morgan Schneiderlins mind is back at Southampton when he takes a shot from outside the box in the extra time. However Mignolet does save this shot in the top centre of the goal.

Southampton seem to be stronger at the start of the second half as they manage to get more ball possession and actually start to look dangerous.

Nathaniel Clyne gets the ball and passes it onto Dusan Tadic, while he continues to run upwards. Tadic reads Clyne’s play perfectly as he quickly flicks the ball backwards towards Clyne. Clyne then shoots from the centre of the box to the top right corner and Mignolet doesn’t stand a chance. Nathaniel Clyne draws Southampton level in the 55th minute.

Just 7 minutes later the Saints get another chance as James Ward-Prowse makes his way into the box, there he spots Steven Davis all free and passes it to him. Unfortunately shooting isn’t Davis his strongest asset as his right footed shot flies right into the hands of Mignolet.

New manager Ronald Koeman makes his first substitution in the 73rd minute of the match. Shane Long makes his way onto the field to replace Dusan Tadic, who has been outstanding.

In the 78th minute Victor Wanyama makes the big mistake of heading the ball backwards into the danger zone in Southamptons box. Raheem Sterling gets his head onto this ball and heads it towards teammate Daniel Sturridge. Sturridge only needs one chance to steer the ball into the inside of the left post from a very close range. Liverpool is leading now by 2-1.

Lloyd Isgrove makes his Premier League debut as he comes on for Steven Davis in the 81st minute.

Morgan Schneiderlin gets his most dangerous shot in the 87th minute as he absolutely blasts the ball into the crossbar. The ball deflects to Shane Long, the 12 million signing, who misses the complete open goal as his header goes out on the right side. This was Southamptons final chance to score and so this first game ends in a loss for the Saints.

Overall I was surprised by how well the Saints managed to play against Liverpool. I even dare say that we had the upper hand in the second half and were putting heaps of pressure on Liverpool. This match probably should have ended in a draw as both teams seemed to be equally good. However it was a great first match performance by the Southampton and they should be proud of themselves to only lose by one goal from a team who just took 3 of their best players. Yes the Saints stood their man and after seeing this match, I think they can come a long way in this season!

Southampton v Everton – Generous Toffees’ Grant Saints 3 Points

Source: Southampton FC official Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/southamptonfc?fref=ts

Everton has travelled to St Mary’s to take on Southampton. Southampton have only taken 4 points out off a possible 15 out of the last 5 matches. Everton is in 5th place with their eyes on a Champions League next season while Southampton is in 8th place, this could be an interesting match.

Morgan Schneiderlin is approximately out for 1 week with a hip/thigh injury, which is why we see both Jack Cork and Victor Wanyama starting. Mauricio Pochettino has decided to start Sam Gallagher this week instead of James Ward-Prowse. This changes the starting line-up around a bit, with Gallagher apparently up front while Cork, Wanyama and Davis in defensive midfield.

The match starts of quickly with Southampton on the ball as they run towards the box. Rickie Lambert is on the left side when he decides to cross the ball towards the box. What happens next seems to surprise everyone when Antolin Alcaraz decides to head the ball. But instead of heading it away from goal, he decides to head it in the goal! This stupid mistake gives the Saints the lead within the first minute.

This giveaway goal gives Southampton a boost of confidence as they try to attack more and are attempting to create a couple of chances, but none seems to end in an actual chance. Steven Davis probably gets the biggest chance in the 20th minute when Rickie Lambert crosses the ball towards him. Davis shoots from the centre of the box but misses to the right. I am not sure how he could have missed that chance.

But things change in the 31st minute when Nathaniel Clyne crosses the ball towards the box, after a few defenders touch it, it goes towards Seamus Coleman. Coleman decides to copy Alcaraz and also heads the ball towards the goal. Another own goal gets Southampton further ahead. And again goalie Tim Howard can’t do anything to stop this from happening.

In the 38th minute Everton make their second handball in their box, but referee Michael Oliver decides not to see this. Another missed penalty goal, we could have been up to 4-0 by now.

In the 46th minute, Dejan Lovren seems to make a handball just outside the box. Everton are yelling for a handball, but if Michael Oliver doesn’t want to recognize an Everton handball then why would he call now for a handball by Lovren?

Everton makes a great run in the second minute of the second half when Steven Naismith passes the ball to Gerard Deulofeu, but Deulofeu gets called offside. Southampton are lucky here as I don’t think this call is fair as he doesn’t look to be offside. This could have been a great Everton chance but the linesman decides differently.

In the 58th minute Jack Cork wins a free kick when Gareth Barry roughly takes him down. This free kick as dangerous for Everton as it’s just outside the box and Rickie Lambert knows exactly how to take these kind of free kicks. Unfortunately he hits the right post this time and with that he also misses a big chance for Southampton.

3 minutes later Leon Osman is running in the Southampton box with Dejan Lovren right behind him. Lovren slides in and wins the ball, but as he slides down he seems to take Osman down with him. Michael Oliver decides to give Osman a yellow card instead for diving. I honestly don’t think this was a yellow card, but it wasn’t a penalty either.

Everton creates their biggest chance in the 63rd minute when Romelu Lukaku gets the ball in the centre of the box. He heads it, but unfortunately for him, he heads it straight towards Artur Boruc. If he would have head it anywhere else, it would have been a goal.

When Steven Davis passes the ball towards Adam Lallana in the box in the 71st minute, Everton decides to block the ball with their hand again. But as we already know. Michael Oliver is blind for handballs.

Mauricio Pochettino makes his first substitution with 15 minutes left, James Ward-Prowse comes on for Sam Gallagher. I am glad he decided to take of Gallagher instead of a midfielder. Yes this probably was Gallaghers best game so far, but he still was the weakest player on the field.

James McCarthy decides to tackle Dejan Lovren in the 80th minute, the tackle is good and Lovren goes down. Then it looks like Lovren is holding McCarthy down on purpose so he can’t get back up to get the ball. But Michael Oliver decides to play on.

In the 85th minute Harrison Reed replaces Adam Lallana. The bad thing of taking Lallana off almost every match is, that now England manager Roy Hodgson never gets to see Lallana play a full match while he is in the crowd. This can work negatively for Lallana’s chances in the world cup.

Pochettino makes his final substitution with 1 minute left to play. Steven Davis makes way for tall Brazilian, Guly do Prado.

James Ward-Prowse gets the last chance of this match in the 91st minute when Nathaniel Clyne passes the ball towards him. Ward-Prowse makes a good shot from outside the box but Tim Howard saves it.

This was the 20th time in the history of the Barclays Premier League that one team makes two own goals in during the game. And with these 2 own goals the Toffees’ grant the 3 point to the Saints.

It just annoys me now when I hear the commentators talk in Evertons favour as they get further away now of a Champions League spot. Yes, Everton misses some key players due to injury, but so did Southampton with Rodriguez, Schneiderlin and Ramirez out. Which makes both teams equal and disqualifies any excuses about Everton being worse due to injuries.

Then they also claim that Everton should have gotten 2 penalties in the second half due to tackles by Dejan Lovren made in the box. But then again, Everton made 3 handballs in their box which should have been penalties in our favour. So again this excuse gets disqualifies as we both missed out on at least 2 penalty calls, which balances it out again.

To be honest, if it wasn’t for the own goals, it probably would have been a draw. Because even though the Saints looked more attacking, they didn’t look like scoring. Even though we didn’t play that good, we were in control of the game. Everton clearly played worse as they didn’t have one proper shot on goal. Every ball went straight to Artur Boruc, who was more than comfortable to save them all.

Everton had their fate in their own hands and are further away now from a Champions League spot due to their own stupidity, due to two big defensive mistakes which ended in own goals. I wouldn’t be surprised if Everton would become the next team in line for Luke Shaw as they should seriously consider purchasing some proper defenders at the end of this season.

Aston Villa v Southampton

Source: Southampton FC official Facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/southamptonfc

The Saints travelled to Villa Park to play Aston Villa yesterday. Several changes have been made to the Southampton team. Gastón Ramirez is out with a hamstring injury so James Ward-Prowse is replacing him. Not a good timing for Ramirez to get injured since Jay Rodriguez is also already out with a long term injury.

Victor Wanyama is also starting, while Jack Cork is on the bench. I am wondering why Mauricio Pochettino made this decision since Cork has been in good shape. We also see that Nathaniel Clyne is back among the starting eleven, moving Calum Chambers to the bench. But the change I am most excited about is saying Artur Boruc back in the goal!

Rickie Lambert gets two chances within the first 5 minutes to score for the Saints. Firstly Luke Shaw crosses the ball to Rickie Lambert, who heads it from the centre box straight to goalie Brad Guzan. One minute later Steven Davis crosses the ball to Lambert who shoots at goal but his shot gets saved yet again. It looks like Brad Guzan is in good shape.

Their next big chance happens in the 31st minute when Rickie Lambert passes the ball to Steven Davis, who is in the centre of the box. Davis kicks the ball good but again Guzan is there to block it.

Just before half time Aston Villa seems to get more determined to score before the break. But lucky our Holy Goalie is back and ready to make some important saves.

With the first 45 minutes of the match gone, the Saints have had 75% of the possession. Aston Villa has tried to break through a few times but don’t seem able to control the ball in their possession properly.

With just 3 minutes into the second half, Aston Villa receive their biggest chance when Karim El Ahmadi breaks through the Southampton defense to get a one-on-one with Artur Boruc. I have no idea where Nathaniel Clyne or José Fonte are to stop Ahmadi when he goes for goal. He shoots from outside the box but lucky Boruc is there, ready to save it and determined to keep a clean sheet.

In the 54th minute Adam Lallana gets his first chance to shoot at goal. Luke Shaw crosses the ball towards him, but somehow Lallana doesn’t seem able to get control of the ball. It looks like it just slips through his ankles or something and with that, he loses the possession.

Mauricio Pochettino makes his first save in the 67th minute when he replaces James Ward-Prowse with Sam Gallagher.

Referee Lee Mason has been pretty fair along the whole game. He also doesn’t seem to give away too many free kick and prefers to just play the advantage. But in the 79th minute he does make his big mistake when an Aston Villa defender stretches out his hand to block Nathaniel Clynes shot. This handball happens within the box and definitely should have been a penalty. Maybe Lee Mason didn’t have a proper view of it, but the images on the camera are crystal clear.

Pochettino finally decides to bring Jack Cork on in the 82nd minute, while he takes off Victor Wanyama.

In the first minute added time, Mauricio Pochettino makes his final substitution when he takes off captain Adam Lallana to let Harrison Reed make his second Premier League appearance.

One minute later, Nathaniel Clyne goes down in the box when Rickie Lambert passes the ball to him. Again Lee Mason doesn’t even reward a free kick for this. I am not sure if it should have been a penalty but a free kick should have been the least Mason should have given for it. This almost makes you think that for some reason he just dislikes Nathaniel Clyne.

And this is how the game ends, in a draw. Overall the match probably was as boring as this match report turned out to be. It’s just that nothing really happened throughout the whole game. Southampton did have most possession but they also only made 3 attempts while Aston Villa managed to make 6 attempts while they only had 1 third of the overall possession.

This match just showed that the only thing Southampton wanted to play for was keeping their clean sheet. They are already 8th in the table and that is probably where they will stay. While the lions are determined to fight and stay in the Premier League, they want to be as far away as possible from the relegation zone. And I think that is the difference in team spirits which showed during this match.

Southampton v Newcastle – England Trio Strikes Again

Source: Southampton FC official Facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/southamptonfc

Southampton was welcoming Newcastle United at St Marys yesterday. With both Nathaniel Clyne and Jay Rodriguez leaving the field early last week due to injuries and Morgan Schneiderlin out last week, it was questionable which players would be fit to start for the Saints. These are a lot of first team injuries, however they have some great substitutions at their hand to start when necessary.

The team sheet showed a good surprise which was Jay Rodriguez fit to start the match. Morgan Schneiderlin is fit enough to start on the bench, which is also good news. The only big name missing now is Nathaniel Clyne who’s out with a groin/pelvis injury with now clear return date yet. We do have young Calum Chambers who has also proven his worth as a right back. Maya Yoshida sustained a knee injury during training and is probably out for 7 weeks, this might ruin his changes for the world cup.

Southampton starts the match with high pressure play, like they’re used to. While Southampton is full on attacking, no one seems to be sure what Newcastle’s game plan is as they aren’t even trying anything. After 26 minutes of the match have been played, the Saints have produced 10 attempts of which 3 on target, the Magpies however haven’t even created an off target chance yet.

In the 38th minute Moussa Sissoko finds it necessary to pull Steven Davis down. The referee Andre Marriner spots this and blows his whistle while José Fonte slides in to stop Sissoko. Lucky for Fonte Marriner already blew his whistle for Sissoko’s foul, who’s now lying on the field grapping his own leg. All I could wish for is that Fonte would have got him harder to teach him a lesson for the low foul he just committed.

It takes up to the final minute of playtime in the first half for the Saints to finally get lucky and score their first, well-deserved goal. Rickie Lambert finds himself onside while he runs up, Jay Rodriguez runs up with him on his left side with only one slow Magpie defender in between. They quickly outrun this Magpie while Lambert crosses the ball to Rodriguez. Goalie Rob Elliot had his eyes fixated on Lambert, giving Rodriguez a clear path as he shoots the ball from the centre of the box to the centre on the goal. Elliot didn’t stand a chance though, there was no way he would have been able to cover both attackers.

With this goal, the Saints go into half time. It’s good for them they finally managed to score just before the break as this might give them the confidence they need to score more goals and win this match as they are the only right team who deserve to win after watching this first half.

Newcastle makes two substitutions right at the start of the second half. Probably in the hope to turn the game in their favour, however they have to work real hard if they want to turn this match around.

These two changes don’t seem to have much effect on the overall game as after one minute Southampton is already back at attacking. In the 3rd minute of the second half Adam Lallana crosses the ball perfectly to Rickie Lambert, Lambert is onside while teammate Jay Rodriguez is just offside so this is a good decision by the Saints captain. Lambert takes one touch on the left side of the 6 yard box and puts the ball in the high centre of the goal. What a start of the second half this is for the Saints and what an awful defensive work on the side of the Magpies.

Papiss Cissé makes a poor challenge on Calum Chambers in the 60th minute when he moves into Chambers leg with his studs up. This challenge could easily cost Cissé a red card. Unfortunately Andre Marriner seems to scared to pull out either card or even reward the Saints with a free kick.

Only 5 minutes after this challenge, another Magpie moves in to take down Luke Shaw. Marriner is in a real good position to see this happening but again he doesn’t blow his whistle. Maybe Marriner is just scared to get a decision wrong and decides therefore to not make a call at all. But as he doesn’t make a call at all he’s definitely making the wrong decision. I mean if you’re not sure about what you’re supposed to be doing as a referee and are too afraid to use your whistle, well then maybe it’s time you hand over your referee licence and choose another career.

In the 69th minute the Magpies make a challenge on Jack Cork, who goes down. But before he goes down, he passes the ball onto Adam Lallana. Lallana takes a clear strike outside the box with his ‘weak’ left foot. The ball flies into the top right corner, what a great finish that was. This awesome Lallana goal is definitely England squad material and World Cup Worthy. This was probably Marriners best decision as he didn’t stop to match to appoint Jack Cork a free kick after the challenge. Even though he didn’t even gesture the advantage, it was the best he could have done to just continue the match or else we would have missed this fantastic Lallana goal.

In the 72nd minute Steven Davis makes way to give Morgan Schneiderlin some time on the pitch.

It takes up to the 75th minute when Andre Marriner finally decides to pull out a card as Massadio Haidara makes a bad foul and receives a yellow card. It seems obviously that Newcastle is so desperate that they’ve decided to make challenges to maybe try and get some strong Saint players out. But the Magpies are even performing poor on making these challenges.

Gastón Ramirez comes on in the 82nd minute to replace goal scorer Rickie Lambert.

In the 88th minute Gastón Ramirez has the ball and with his good football inside decides to play a through ball over the Newcastle defence. Jay Rodriguez is waiting at the other end of the ball. There is only one defender on Rodriguez, but Rodriguez easily gets around him and shoots the ball from the left side of the box to the bottom left corner. With this he makes his second goal.

Mauricio Pochettino makes his last substitution in the 90th minute when he takes of captain Adam Lallana to bring on Sam Gallagher. I’m not sure about this decision since I reckon Adam Lallana is man of the match and as the captain I think he should have played the full match.

The match ends in a 4-0 win for Southampton, a well deserved win. They probably should have scored more goals as they could have been ahead with 4-0 by half time. And with 23 shots, of which 11 were on target, against only 5 shots from Newcastle. The Magpies only had 2 shots on target. I’m still trying to figure out what their game plan was since all the seemed to be doing was defending and even at that they were hopeless. Their best player probably was Rob Elliot but with a defence who wasn’t even aiding him when he needed them too, didn’t he stand a chance against Southamptons force. It is more than fair that the Saints took all 3 points as they absolutely deserved it and with this win they move into 8th place on the ladder, overtaking the hopeless Magpies.

Tottenham Hotspurs v Southampton – Saints Gift 3 Points To Spurs

Source: Southampton FC official Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/southamptonfc

Yesterday Southampton travelled to White Hart Lane to take on Tottenham Hotspurs. The biggest surprise in Southamptons starting line-up is Jack Cork! Who recovered much quicker than expected from his ankle injury and only missed one match. Victor Wanyama still seems to be out since we don’t spot him on the bench. And surprisingly so is Morgan Schneiderlin, who’s been replaces by James Ward-Prowse. Schneiderlin is apparently dealing with a groin/pelvis injury. Rickie Lambert is also starting again and Nathaniel Clyne still seems to be favoured over young Calum Chambers.

Southampton is strongly attacking from the start with Rickie Lambert getting their first chance. Lambert makes a great run and Adam Lallana passes the ball to him, but Lambert didn’t seem to be able to make up his mind to shoot either left or right. So eventually he passes the ball back to Lallana, who shoots but just misses the top left corner.

Jay Rodriguez creates a chance 3 minutes later. Rickie Lambert plays a through ball to him, Rodriguez shoots the ball into the net but is caught offside.

In the 18^th minute Rodriguez gets another chance when Artur Boruc takes his goal kick. A Spurs defender tries to intercept but Rodriguez manages to take the ball. He is on-side and is determined to take full advantage of that. He takes a clear shot and the ball goes into the bottom right corner, Hugo Lloris just can’t get to it. This great finish by Rodriguez gives the Saints a 1-0 lead.

It’s the 27^th minute when Rickie Lambert wins the ball from a Spurs defender after a Southampton free kick. Lambert plays a through ball to Adam Lallana who finishes it off. The ball shoots into the bottom left corner, giving Southampton a 2-0 lead within 10 minutes. Good to know too that Roy Hodgson is in the crowd watching while these two England players scored.

In the 30^th minute, the officials make their biggest mistake of the match. Dejan Lovren goes down due to a Tottenham player, but instead of rewarding the Saints defender with the free kick he deserves, the linesman and referee just stand there. The ball goes to Nathaniel Clyne who can’t deal with it properly, losing the ball to Christian Erikson who scores. Artur Boruc didn’t stand a chance while the ball flies into the bottom left corner. Referee Anthony Taylor probably should have gone to Specsavers before taking the whistle for this match.

Erikson tries to get a penalty in the 41^st minute when he goes down with the ball in the box as Boruc catches and holds the ball. However there is no contact between the players and Boruc has the ball, so there is no intention for a corner. A shame Erikson didn’t realise this while he’s laying in the box pathetically.

Southampton has won half of their points away from home, its their best away record they have ever had in the Premier League. As for Tottenham, most of their goals, both for and against, have happened in the second half. So the second half might be pretty interesting.

Calum Chambers starts the second half instead of Nathaniel Clyne. Clyne isn’t being replaced for his defence mistake in the first half, apparently he has a groin/pelvis injury which is why Mauricio Pochettino was forced to make his first substitution so early on.

Within the first minute Dejan Lovren dispossesses the ball to Roberto Soldado. Soldado passes the ball onto Christian Erikson, who then makes the equaliser with his close range shot to the centre of the goal. It doesn’t even take one minute for the Spurs to score, this is a great start for them.

It looks like the tables have turned now. Southampton seems to have given up on their high pressure game play while Tottenham decided to take control of the ball now. On the other hand, it took the Spurs 45 minutes before they managed to match the Saints successful play.

In the 62^nd minute Pochettino makes his second substitution, Gastón Ramirez replaces goal scorer Jay Rodriguez. It looks like this isn’t a tactical change but that Rodriguez actually incurred a leg injury.

In the 67^th minute we see Nacer Chadli calling for a handball when the ball seems to hit Luke Shaws, who is already trying to turn away from the ball, arm. Chadli’s arm is still up in the air when Gastón Ramirez tries to clear the ball. This is where the events take a turn when the ball actually gets blocked by Chadli’s hand, rewarding Southampton with a free kick due to a handball.

Christian Erikson has had a taste of scoring now as he almost makes his hat trick in the 68^th minute. Younes Kaboul passes the ball to Erikson, who makes a fast run with the ball. Lucky for Southampton Calum Chambers manages to slide in just in time to clear the ball. I don’t know who was supposed to be targeting Erikson, but this was a good recovery by the young Chambers.

The Saints create two more chances towards the end of the second half. Firstly when Adam Lallana crosses the ball to Rickie Lambert, who’s in front of goal and heads the ball. Unfortunately his attempt gets blocked. 3 minutes later Lallana crosses the ball back to Gastón Ramirez. Ramirez takes a hard shot but it gets blocked by the Tottenham defence.

Mauricio Pochettino makes his late last substitution in the 89^th minute, when Rickie Lambert makes way for Sam Gallagher. Maybe the young striker can make another late goal, like his very first goal last week.

The Spurs get lucky in the 1^st added minute when José Fontes header goes to the wrong player. Christian Erikson passes the ball to Gylfi Sigurdsson. Sigurdsson shoots the ball from outside the box, it shoots clear through the Saints defenders into the bottom left corner. Artur Boruc didn’t stand a chance to save this shot. This was probably the only goal Tottenham made this match due to good game play. And it is the goal that will give them all 3 points.

Southampton really was the stronger side in the first half. The first Tottenham goal shouldn’t even have happened as the game should have been stopped for a free kick in Southamptons favour. And then goal is where it all started to go downwards for the Saints.

The second Spur goal which happened within the first minute of the second half, was a defensive mess up on Lovrens behalf. After this goal we could see Southamptons confidence crumble while Tottenham started to wake up and took most ball possession, desperate to win the game.

We all know that it takes only one goal to win a game and it only takes one defensive mess up to create a goal. However I do believe a draw would have been the fairest outcome in this match. It’s a shame that the Saints don’t seem to be able to keep their high pressure game play up for the full 90 minutes, I hope they will be able to improve this. They also shouldn’t let their confidence slip away after conceiving a goal. This is only their second season back in the Premier League, so they still have ways to grow stronger.

It was good to see Jack Cork starting again, as he played a good match together with James Ward-Prowse in midfield. I believe Cork and Ward-Prowse play better together than Morgan Schneiderlin and James Ward-Prowse did last week. Ward-Prowse seemed to be touching the ball a fair bit more this match.

Southampton v Norwich City

Source: Southampton FC official Facebook page   https://www.facebook.com/southamptonfc

Last Saturday Southampton was hosting Norwich City at St Marys. Since both Jack Cork and Victor Wanyama were ruled out injured, Cork injured his ankle last match and Wanyama’s previous injured leg played up again after that same match, it was a surprise who would be starting. Would Mauricio Pochettino choose James Ward-Prowse or would he drop Steven Davis back to midfield so Gastón Ramirez could start. Well they both started, Ward-Prowse in midfield and Ramirez was replacing Lambert, moving him to the bench.

With these changes, we now had Jay Rodriguez up front as a striker with Ramirez right behind him. Adam Lallana moved to the left wing. And we all know Lallana can either play right or left or even centre attacking midfield.

England boss Roy Hodgson is attending this game just as club owner Katharina Liebherr and Southamptons new chairman Ralph Krueger.

Gastón Ramirez gets his first chance after the first minute when James Ward-Prowse crosses it from the corner. Ramirez heads it just a little bit too high. 3 minutes after this chance Ramirez gets a chance to show us his skills when he plays a through ball to Morgan Schneiderlin. He could have passed it to Rodriguez but spotted Schneiderlin in a better position. Schneiderlin finishes this ball confidently, giving Southampton a 1-0 lead.

This was all the excitement we get to see in the first half. Southampton definitely was the stronger side these first 45 minutes with about 70% possession. They had several attempts at goal but none of them succeeded, leaving the score at 1-0 at half time.

Southampton starts the second half off where they have left the first half, full on attacking the Canaries. James Ward-Prowse gets a shot at goal but goalie John Ruddy manages to turn it into a corner instead. Then Adam Lallana’s header, from a corner cross, is very close but just misses to the right.

After this miss Lallana gets taken off the field so Rickie Lambert can replace him. I’m surprised Pochettino decided to take his captain off as his first substitution. But I don’t get much time to really think about this decision. As José Fonte’s header bounces towards Lambert. Lambert shoots the ball from the centre of the box right in between Ruddy and the post into the bottom right corner. It took Lambert exactly 66 seconds to score! That must have impressed Roy Hodgson.

In the 60^th minute Gastón Ramirez is dealing with some cramps making Pochettino decide to replace him with Guly do Prado.

Around the 72^nd minute is starts to get pretty clumsy around the Norwich goal. Rickie Lambert passes the ball to Guly do Prado, who’s shot gets saved in the centre of the goal. But the ball bounces in between Norwich defenders until Lambert gets control of it again, he passes it to Jay Rodriguez this time. Which turned out a better decision as Rodriguez shoots it right into the centre of the goal. Rodriguez 50^th league goal gives Southampton a 3-0 lead and makes it look like it’s game over now for Norwich.

It all goes down in the 84^th minute when José Fonte back passes the ball without even watching to who he is playing it. The ball goes straight to Johan Elmander at the centre of the box. Elmander doesn’t have to think twice about this present as he shoots it right into the centre of the goal. Artur Boruc didn’t stand a chance.

Guly do Prado doesn’t fare much better as Fonte, when he also passes the ball towards the Canaries. Elmander takes control of the ball again trying to set up Ricky van Wolfswinkel. Boruc manages to save van Wolfswinkels shot, but the bounce off goes to Robert Snodgrass who does manage to score with a clean shot from the right side of the box to the bottom right corner. It just takes over a minute for Canaries to change the score to 3-2.

The unbelievable has happened. For over 80 minutes Norwich have been hopeless, barely having just over 30% possession. When the Saints seem to get too comfortable having at 3-0 lead at their home ground. They’ve let their guard down, getting a bit sloppy, resulting in two changes for the Canaries. They know exactly how to use these lucky chances. Within 2 minutes they turn the pressure around, and now Southampton is the team under pressure trying to keep their 3 points as Norwich, now they’ve had a taste of scoring, is determined to score again.

As 5 minutes added time get added to the second half, I actually worry that Southampton will settle for a draw after they’ve been mastering this match for 80 minutes.  The confidence of being able to defeat Norwich, let them loosen the reigns just enough to conceive 2 goals. Maybe this is what the Saints needed to put them on sharp again, making them realise the match isn’t over yet and anything can happen.

Mauricio Pochettino decides to waste some of those pressing added minutes by making his last substitution. Jay Rodriguez makes way for youngster Sam Gallagher two minutes into the extra time.

One minute later Dejan Lovren bumps into teammate Steven Davis and goes down. At first I think he’s just trying to do his best to waste more time as he pretends to be in great pain. After some time they support him while he crumples of the field. We’ll find out later Lovren truly was in great pain as he got stepped onto one of his testicles.

Norwich give the ball away just before the end of the game when one of their players falls to the field while he’s trying to turn around with the ball. Steven Davis takes this opportunity to take the ball and run forwards towards the only Norwich defender left in front of goal. Sam Gallagher runs up with Davis on his left side. Just before the defender completely blocks the path for Davis, he passes it to Gallagher. Gallagher shoots the ball from the centre of the box towards the centre of the goal. John Ruddy tries to do his best to stop the ball but his touch is just to soft as the ball bounces into the goal anyway.

Gallagher scores his first Premier League goal in the 96^th minute of the match. A well deserved goal too. With this goal Sam secures the win for the Saints, they get to keep the 3 points and even overtake Newcastle on the ladder, moving Southampton into 8^th spot.

What an exciting last 15 minutes that was. Southampton did deserve the win, but they also shouldn’t get too comfortable. This is what Mauricio Pochettino had to say: “In football, nothing is finished until the final whistle. We lacked focus at the back and you can’t take anything for granted in the Premier League.”

As for Norwich City, I shouldn’t say this, but I sincerely hope they get relegated. Their game play is nasty to say the least. When they realise they aren’t good enough to win, they just start snapping players from the other team. Probably in attempt trying to take out their best players so they have a chance at winning themselves.

If you have watched the match, you can do the player ratings here: http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/southampton/match-ratings/display/match:8250/southampton-v-norwich-city
If you are doing this, I’m asking you not to give Artur Boruc a low score as it isn’t his fault Norwich scored twiced so it wouldn’t be fair blaming him for it either.

Crystal Palace v Southampton – Winning Saints Push Eagles Closer To Relegation Zone

Source: Southampton FC official Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/southamptonfc

Southampton travelled to Selhurst Park last Saturday to play against Crystal Palace. The only change we see in the team of Mauricio Pochettino is the right back. Nathaniel Clyne replaces Calum Chambers. Chambers is on the bench though making me assume that Pochettino just picked Clyne over Chambers for this match, maybe so Clyne could make an appearance at his former home ground.

Luke Shaw said this has been the best week of his life as he received a call up for the senior England squad and even made him debut on Wednesday. Former teammate Jason Puncheon called him afterwards to congratulate him. They were close friends when they were both at Southampton but in this match they will be opponents as they play opposite each other.

25 minutes into the match and Southampton have been the better side by far with 72% possession. The Saints are showing some great team play, looking for a way to break through the Eagles defence and create a chance.

After only half an hour we see Jack Cork twist his ankle while he’s falling back to the ground. He jumped up for a challenge but lands unlucky causing him an injured ankle. Cork is able to walk of the field and seems to discus with manager Pochettino whether he can run it off. Apparently he can’t and Pochettino is forced to make his first substitution, on comes Victor Wanyama.

It’s a shame Jack Cork had to leave the field injured as he has been impressive those 30 minutes. Rumours have reached me that Cork left the ground wearing a protective boot and that he might be out for up to 6 weeks. Let’s hope this is not true and he’ll make a quick recovery like Dejan Lovren and Gastón Ramirez did. It would be bad for Cork if he really is going to be out for that long as he has recently gotten into an amazing shape and he has been very impressive on the pitch.

In the 36^th minute Jason Puncheon tries to head pass the ball backwards to a teammate poorly. Jay Rodriguez runs for it and intercepts the ball, giving him a one-on-one with Julian Speroni. Both run and slide in for the ball, Rodriguez is determined to keep the ball. He wins the challenge, half gets up to take a shot while he realises he has to act quickly. Still half in a sitting position, he kicks the ball and it rolls slowly into the empty net. This goal marks his 11^th goal of the season.

In the 45^th minute, Adam Lallana crosses the ball towards his teammates near the box. A poor header clearance by Crystal Palace leaves the ball in Rickie Lamberts possession. Lambert takes the shot with the outside of his foot at the centre of the box but is unlucky to hit the post. It could have been 2-0 for the Saints right there but it was a tricky shot for Lambert and he tried his best.

Crystal Palace gets their first chance of this match in the last minute of added time when Damien Delaney passes it to Yannick Bolasie. Bolasie takes a clear shot from outside the box but Artur Boruc is quick in his goalkeeping reflexes and he stops the ball.

Rickie Lambert gets a second chance at goal 13 minutes into the second half when Southampton receives a free kick. Lambert takes the free kick outside the box but just misses past the top left corner.

Luke Shaw tries to top the best week of his life with a goal in the 73^rd minute when he makes a strong strike outside the box. But his attempt gets saved in the bottom left corner.

Rickie Lambert makes way for Sam Gallagher in the 74^th minute. Giving the young striker almost 20 minutes to prove himself.

Steven Davis goes off in the 88^th minute so James Ward-Prowse can get a little run on the field as well.

Crystal Palace feel the end of the match drawing nearer as they get more desperate at making the equaliser. So desperate even that they don’t pay attention to their positions and they keep on being caught offside. However even if they weren’t offside, they still have to get past Artur Boruc. And Boruc looks confident in his saves, he knows they’ll only have a few more chances before the last minutes of the match are played.

Jay Rodriguez takes a risk in the 90^th minute when he falls back in a defensive position and makes a blunt clearance, giving away a corner to the Eagles. His clearance may have been a bit too much, but let’s remember he is not a defender and we should be happy he was there to clear the ball before it was getting too close to the goal. And to make up for giving away the corner, he clears the corner ball as well.

The match ends 4 minutes later. Southampton can take the three points home with them. The Saints definitely have been the stronger team this match, they have had more possession, more shorts and even the most shots on target. They have shown us some impressive team play, passing the ball to each other while trying to find a gap to get through.

And what was wrong with Crystal Palace’s poor headers. First there is Jason Puncheon head passing the ball so poorly it ends in a goal for Southampton. Then Rickie Lambert gets the ball in the box after another poor header from the Eagles. It looks like they’ll have to work on that in training.

Yes Southampton deserved this win and with this win they stay 9^th on the ladder while pushing Crystal Palace even closer to the relegation zone.

Sunderland v Southampton – The Black Cats Move Forward In The FA Cup

Source picture: Southampton FC official Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/southamptonfc

It feels like only a week ago that Southampton played Sunderland in the Stadium of Light on the 18th of January. That match was a League game it which both Dejan Lovren and Gastón Ramirez injured their ankles. But today the Saints travelled to the Stadium of Light to play the Black Cats in the FA Cup.

Southamptons starting eleven is pretty surprising, many changes have been made: Kelvin Davis, Nathaniel Clyne, Maya Yoshida, Rickie Lambert, Steven Davis, Victor Wanyama, James Ward-Prowse, Adam Lallana, Guly do Prado, Luke Shaw and Jos Hooiveld are starting in this match. Kelvin Davis wear the captain armband which I can understand on one hand since he used to be the captain when he was the first team goalie. But since Adam Lallana is still starting this match, I think he should be the captain. It is weird seeing the usual captain starting while a second choice goalie gets to wear the armband.

The starting line up is strange since Southamptons next match is next week, giving the players a week to recover. Maybe some players still weren’t fit enough after last Tuesdays match and the manager just chose the fittest and best players, this is the case according to Jesús Pérez. Or Mauricio Pochettino doesn’t want to risk getting more injuries and save his best players for the League matches. Which would still be a bit weird since the players would have a full week to recover.

The match starts off slowly for Southampton with Sunderland trying hard to attack at their home ground, they are the stronger team at the start of the match. It takes the Saints well over 20 minutes of play time before they match up with the Black Cats and manage to attack some more themselves.

Not many big chances, none worth mentioning here, get created in this first half. Sunderland receives a free kick just outside the box in the 35^th minute. Sebastian Larsson takes it, but instead of shooting it towards goal, he kicks it to his left where Craig Gardner is waiting. Gardner tries to shoot at goal, but the goal has never been so high and thus the ball flies far over it.

Finally, with about 5 minutes left in the first half, Southampton seem to get stronger at attacking. This work doesn’t pay off yet, leaving the score 0-0 at half time. The last time these two sides met in the FA Cup was in 1985. Southampton won that match with 4-0, but there hasn’t been any indication that that score is going to be repeated.

Only 4 minutes into the second half and Sunderland gets their biggest chance so far. They are attacking and Luke Shaw manages to clear the ball away from the box but it goes toward Craig Gardner. Victor Wanyama turns around and chases the ball but is just not strong enough to stop Gardner, who takes the ball and runs away with it. Gardner shoots the ball from outside the box towards the top left corner. Kelvin Davis doesn’t stand a chance when the ball flies over his head. With this goal the Black Cats take the lead.

Mauricio Pochettino decides to bring on the big guns when he makes two substitutions in the 61^st minute. Jay Rodriguez comes on for Guly do Prado and James Ward-Prowse goes off for Morgan Schneiderlin. It is kind a surprising Pochettino decides to leave Victor Wanyama on the field.

Sunderland seem determined to make a second goal. In the 73^rd minute they get a big chance when Sebastian Larsson plays the ball to Connor Wickham in the centre of the box. Wickham is one-on-one with Kelvin Davis but just misses the final touch with the ball causing Davis to catch the ball instead. One minute later Larsson has a go himself outside the box but again Kelvin Davis is ready to make his save. I must say that Davis seems to be a very good shape today, probably the best I have seen him this season.

Southampton finally try to catch up with Sunderland with only 10 minutes left. Nathaniel Clyne realises the importance of this match and tries to set up his teammates to score. First he crosses it to Adam Lallana who is just outside the 6 yard box, he only just misses to the right. Two minutes later Clyne crosses the ball towards Rickie Lambert, who’s in front of an open goal. At this close range he tries to shoot it, but shoots way to high causing the ball to fly over the goal instead. How could Lambert miss such a great chance, he will be blaming himself later for this miss. Lambert hasn’t been in his best shape these last two Southampton matches.

Mauricio Pochettino decides to take of Adam Lallana in the 81^st minute so Sam McQueen can make his debut in the Premier League. I wonder if this is a smart move by Pochettino since Lallana seems to have been one of the better players on the field.

Sunderland receives another big chance with 5 minutes of the match left. John O’Shea plays the ball towards Connor Wickham who only has one Southampton defender in front of him and to Sunderland players on each side to support him. However Wickhams selfishness takes the better of him and he makes the wrong decision to try and score himself, which ends in the ball being blocked and a chance being wasted.

Three minutes later Kelvin Davis massive save when Fabio Borini shoots towards the centre of the goal from the centre of the box. Davis falls down to block the ball causing it to bounce away from goal. This was probably Davis his biggest save of this match as it almost resulted in a second goal for Sunderland.

With one minute of added time left, Southampton receive a corner and Kelvin Davis runs forwards too giving the Saints one extra chance to maybe score. This corner doesn’t even come close to ending in a goal. So the match ends and the Black Cats move on in the FA Cup with this one goal win.

It is fair to say that the better team won this game. Sunderland obviously wanted the win more than Southampton and so they got rewarded with a win. Mauricio Pochettino didn’t take this game very serious when he decided not to play with his full first team. Even though they are save in the Premier League and would have a week to recover from this match. Also the players themselves didn’t seem to worried about this match as they played a more all for themselves game instead of playing a team sport.

The Saints their game play was pretty messy and with that I don’t mean like Messi but just hopeless. I wish Southampton would have taken this match more serious and realised how much this win would have meant for their fans. Instead they decided to not even really try. All I can say is that Sunderland absolutely deserved to win this game and I hope for them that they will get further into the FA Cup.

Southampton v Stoke City

Source picture: Southampton FC official Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/southamptonfc

On the second Saturday of February Southampton played Stoke City at St Mary’s. The weather conditions aren’t really ideal this match as there is a whirling wind ruling in the stadium and the prediction that rain and hail are on it’s way as well. These conditions might make it a bit tougher to play this match. Nathaniel Clyne is starting this game instead of Calum Chambers, who incurred a dead leg in the previous match and has missed most of this weeks training due to that.

The second change is Jack Cork who is starting instead of Victor Wanyama. Cork has proven his worthy after he came on in the last match against Fulham and changed the game around. This is the first time this season that Jack Cork has been preferred to Victor Wanyama. Cork his contract is running out at the end of the season and he is keen on signing a new deal. “I love everyone here, I’m so settled here,” is what he said. “I love everything about it, so I would love to stay here, but if things go back to how they were at the start of the season then things might change.” Referring to Victor Wanyama who took over his starting position.

Charlie Adams gets confused with which sport he is playing as he makes a handball five minutes into the game. Lucky for him he makes the handball just outside the box resulting in a free kick instead of a penalty. Rickie Lambert takes the free kick just outside the box on the left side of the goal. He curls the ball perfectly into the top right corner. This is one of Lamberts talents. I am sure that this 101^st league goal for him would have given him the same great feeling like the 100^th did if not a better feeling by the way he finished this shot.

After conceiving so early on in the game, Stoke City really seems to want to make the equaliser as they try hard to attack at the other end of the field.

In the 27^th minute Stoke City gets a corner but Southampton wins the ball back quickly. Adam Lallana plays the ball forward towards Steven Davis. Davis sprints away with the ball on the left side of the field when Nathaniel Clyne sprints past him. I am still wondering where Clyne came from and what he was doing on the left side of the field. It doesn’t matter though, what matters is that he was in the right spot at the right time when Steven Davis passes the ball to him. Clyne shoots the ball from the left side on goal but Amir Begovic saves it. However it was a great chance created by Southamptons quick play.

In the 37^th minute Charlie Adam plays a through ball to Peter Odemwingie, who is just on side. Odemwingie is fast and sprints forwards to get a one on one with Artur Boruc. Odemwingie scores in the centre of the goal and draw the Potters level with the Saints. Looks like Charlie Adams efforts to make up for the early Southampton resulted in an assist for him.

It only takes 3 minutes for another exciting chance, for the Saints this time. Steven Davis shoots from the right side from a long range with his left foot at goal. The ball shoots into the bottom left corner and it’s a goal for Davis. The strong wind may have played a part in it, but either way it was a well deserved goal for Steven Davis.

In the 43^rd minute Stoke City get a corner which Charlie Adam takes. Giant Peter Crouch is in the right spot in makes a header from a close range and gets the ball in the bottom right corner. I’m not sure what Artur Boruc was doing exactly when he dived backwards to the left. But 2 all it is, again only 3 minutes after the previous goal. Charlie Adam seems to have done his best to assist in making some goals for the Potters.

Both team go into half time with 2 goals each. This first half has been exciting and definitely had at least double the amount of action compared to the Fulham – Southampton match of last weekend.

History might be repeating itself when Southampton receive another free kick at the start of the half just outside Stoke City’s box. Luke Shaw and Steven Davis are both ready to take the shot, Shaw runs past the ball as expected, leaving Davis to shoot it. But he misses.

I get the impression that Peter Crouch is just being a bully when he keeps on trying to impress referee Craig Pawson. Crouch looks almost twice as tall as Pawson when he’s hanging over the referee to let him know his opinion on Pawsons call. Lucky Craig Pawson is not impressed at all by Crouch and just ignores him.

Substitutions are made late this match when Mauricio Pochettino makes his first, and only, substitution in the 79^th minute. Calum Chambers comes on the field to replace Nathaniel Clyne.

It takes Calum Chambers 4 minutes to give a good pass forward to Morgan Schneiderlin, who is on the left side of the goal and has to shoot the ball from a difficult angle. Unfortunately his shot misses slightly to the left, but I think he was offside anyway.

Nothing more exciting happens in the second half and the match ends in a draw. Southampton have been trying hard to score again to take the win but Stoke City’s defence was to strong for the Saints to break through. However I do believe Southampton shouldn’t have let Stoke City to get equal with them so easily.

The Saints should have taken the 3 points, definitely when you look at the match statistics. Southampton has had 60% ball possession, made 18 attempts of which 5 were only on target. Stoke City only had 5 attempts but 4 of them were on target. This shows that the Saints really have to work on their finishing skills. Just being the stronger side is not enough to win a game, because you have to make goals to actually take the 3 points. It only takes 1 goal to win a match, but to be able to make that goal, they have to aim more in target.

Katharina Liebherr was seen sitting in the crowd again. Maybe she has found her Southampton spirit and is really following now in her fathers footsteps to continue running the club. The Liebherr family has done much for the Southampton Football Club and it would be nice if Katharina Liebherr was to continue pursuing her fathers dream.

Fulham v Southampton – Southamptons England Trio Secure The Win

Source picture: Southampton FC official Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/southamptonfc

On the 1^st of February Southampton travelled to Craven Cottage to play against Fulham. There are two changes to the starting eleven. Rickie Lamberts hamstring seems to be all good again and he is ready to start on the field. The biggest surprise is Victor Wanyama who has returned.

I honestly can’t believe Mauricio Pochettino made this decision after Jack Cork has been in top form and been playing great. Nathaniel Clyne lost his starting position to Calum Chambers when he got injured, it should have been the same with Jack Cork and Victor Wanyama. Jack Cork has deserved his starting position over all the games he has played lately. I reckon Jack Cork will be annoyed now, he has played the whole of January and on the 1^st of February, one day after the transfer window has closed, he gets replaced. I won’t be surprised if he decides to leave at the end of the season, he deserves better than being a second choice player.

The first half starts off pretty boring. Not much seems to be happening. Even though Southampton has most of the possession, 65% in fact, they use this by mostly just passing the ball backwards and sideways. Fulham has more attempts and most of their attempts are actually on target too.

Fulhams best chance comes in the 34^th minute when Darren Bent manages to shoot on goal twice within 20 seconds, but Artur Boruc is ready in the goal waiting for them. He is determined to keep a clean sheet and manage to save both chances.

After having seen the first half, I have to admit that Fulham was the better team. It wouldn’t be surprising if they manage to score in the second half just by using one of their chances to the fullest. The Saints have to try harder if they want to take the 3 points.

 

Source picture: Southampton FC official Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/southamptonfc

Jack Cork comes on for Victor Wanyama at the start of the second half. Wanyama gets taken off as he is not fit enough yet to play a full game. I also think Pochettino didn’t want to risk leaving Wanyama on as he has already made some stupid fouls costing him one yellow card, which could easily turn into him being sent off the field in the second half.

Southampton starts off the second half stronger than they were in the first half. Jay Rodriguez gets a chance just 3 minutes into the second half, but he doesn’t finish it neatly and misses to the left. Morgan Schneiderlin tries it with a bicycle kick in the 50^th minute at the centre of the box. It was a great attempt which just goes too high, it would have been an awesome goal if it went in.

So far I think Mauricio Pochettino made a good decision to bring on Jack Cork as the team already seems to be playing better. In the 57^th minute Pochettino takes Calum Chambers off so he can bring on Nathaniel Clyne. There is more than 30 minutes still to go and only one substitution left. These two substitutions have to be tactical ones, as why else would the manager make them so early in the match?

It looks like Pochettino’s changes were tactical as Adam Lallana scores 6 minutes after the last substitution. Lallana shoots the ball from the left side of the box right past the defenders and Maarten Stekelenburg into the far right bottom corner! A great shot and a perfect finish by the Saints captain. A goal well deserved, assisted by Rickie Lambert.

Southampton looks hungry for more goals now that they have finally managed to score their first goal. Looking at the way they are playing now, they deserve to score more goals and take the 3 points back to St. Mary’s.

In the 69^th minute Nathaniel Clyne has the ball. He knows exactly where Rickie Lambert is and crosses it towards him. Some good football insight by Clyne. Rickie Lambert shoots from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. What a good finish by Lambert! This goal marks his 100^th league goal for Southampton, a goal Lambert deserves to put his name behind.

Jay Rodriguez has a try 5 minutes later when Rickie Lambert spots him up front all by himself and passes the ball towards him. A good decision by Lambert. Rodriguez has two defenders on him who he has to try to get past. When he is on the left side of the box he breaks through and shoots the ball into the far right top corner! It was a awesome sharp shot with a good finish. The best goal of the match if you ask me. All three goals went in on the right side which makes me wonder if this is Maarten Stekelenburgs weaker side.

This goal marks the ‘game over’ moment for Fulham and is the icing on the cake for the Saints. It looks like many Cottagers fans have seen enough of this match already as they are heading to the exit, while the Southampton fans are in very good spirit. Singing lines like: ‘We are Southampton and we’re off to Brazil.’ ‘There’s only one Pochettino, one Po-chet-ti-no.’ and ‘We are Southampton, we’re taking the piss.’

Southampton definitely gained the upper hand in this match after scoring those 3 goals in a bit over 10 minutes. They are playing mostly in Fulhams half now and the Cottagers have a hard time breaking through the Southampton defence.

In the 86^th minute Mauricio Pochettino decides to make his last substitution and brings on Sam Gallagher for Jay Rodriguez. This seems more like a time wasting substitution than a game changing one, but it is good for Gallagher to at least get some minutes play time.

This is how the match ends, 3-0 for the Saints. Their first win at Craven Cottage in 67 years, an absolutely well deserved win. Even though they had the less attempts on goal in the first half, they tried harder and doubled Fulhams attempts, with 17 for the Saints and 8 for the Cottagers by the end of the match. However Fulhams attempts were more accurate with half of them, 4, compared to only 5 attempts on target for Southampton.

One side note I would like to make is that I don’t think Michael Jones was being completely fair in his calls. It seemed easier for him to hand out cards to Southampton players and give free kicks against them than the other way around.

The Saints deserved this win and I reckon that the biggest game chance came with the first two substitutions. As soon as Jack Cork entered the field, the team seemed to be playing that bit better and Nathaniel Clyne finished it off by adding some more force to the squad.

England’s National team manager Roy Hodgson was in the crowd to witness Southampton’s England trio score a goal each and secure the win for the Saints. If Hodgson wasn’t sure about these three players before, they should have convinced him of their worth with their performance in this match.

For those of you have watched the game, please do the players rating here: http://tui.fansnetwork.co.uk/match-ratings/display/match:8188/fulham-v-southampton