Without causing confusion, I’m not complaining by any means when I divulge that it’s getting a little tricky to glamorise another win for Ronald Koeman’s Southampton. As a native and, thus, an avid supporter, it’s thrilling to witness that Saints, of all sides, are the only club currently keeping up even remotely with Chelsea’s relentless Premier League campaign. However, reporting the facts are much the same this week as they have regularly been: Saints won, again. (You can probably guess that it feels great, and/or totally surreal).
Two goals, second place; it seems that two is the new magic number for the red and white stripes. After bagging just the one goal against Hull City the Saturday prior, albeit with a clean sheet, I was pondering the sad and rather preposterous possibility that Saints might not keep Leicester City at bay. Such small margins to triumph by can be difficult, and are often attributed to poor planning and assembling of the components. However, I doubt anybody could argue that Koeman has insufficiently moulded his team dramatically in any game; his structures have generally been solid, with any slip-ups in fact pertaining to own errors of certain players.
Southampton vs. Leicester: A Recap
In order for Ronald Koeman to gain the best from his boys, the initial line-up was aligned with that of the team against Hull, bar one change. This week, Sadio Mané began on the pitch, usurping that starting position from Shane Long; a character I had mostly been less fond of in terms of strategy and calibre (how wrong I was). What might have seemed beneficial to Mr. Koeman as dawn broke, later became an irritating decision, and one only spotted through the gift of hindsight.
Following the stroke of kick-off, Leicester were cool, collected and compact; vital conditions if to proceed with correct gusto on Saints’ home turf. However, the control of each and every Saints player began to seep in; Victor Wanyama was composed, whilst Mané and Ryan Bertrand were actively spying credible chances to reignite the fire that once was the Tadić -Pellè duo. The seeking out of the formidable pair failed to pay off; something which has unfortunately been lumbered with Saints’ progression for many persistent weeks.
Throughout the entirety of the first half, Saints were technically the better side, but Leicester were invigorating and fully prepared for any threats posed. Despite Saints’ later success, Leicester were a truly commendable side, especially as they seem to be enjoying eighteenth-place exclusivity.
At 25 minutes, Wes Morgan attempts, but strikes nothing concrete for Leicester. Despite a failure from Morgan, it was certainly enough to put a rocket amid Saints and spark some form of resurgence. Forgetting Dušan Tadić from the equation, Mané sought to link up with Graziano Pellè. Their tribulations were again not enough to secure anything tangible for the hosts.
Any admission regarding Leicester’s defence as impeccable would be false, but they were overtly alert, dependable and deft. However, this comfort to fans of The Foxes did not hold up entirely during the second half of play.
As 51 minutes chimed, referee, Michael Oliver demonstrated to the locals that he was not about to waive the rule book; Mané’s clear strike soared into the net, but was disallowed as offside. Rumblings of despair from the Saints fans were undoubtedly met with huge sighs of relief from the visiting bunch of support.
Retaliation to Saints’ urgency to score rose in the form of Andy King; his attempts, too, were bitterly shot down. At this stage, it was looking somewhat hopeless for both sides. Then, cogs began whirring inside the calculating mind of the Dutchman, and that was it – genius from Koeman, once again, and Shane Long was ordered favourably onto the pitch, relegating Mané to the bench. Despite decent position and sterling creativity on the ball from the spritely Senegalese player, Long had been identified as the missing link.
Within ten speedy minutes of his arrival, Long had quelled the nervous woes of the home crowd; a goal was in, no quibbles from Michael Oliver. A double celebration, no doubt, for the hosts, as Pellè had claimed the assisting role. Two minutes later (see, that number again?!), and Long stole his second of the day, with a little help from Wanyama, who had been a tad quiet since his earlier crusades.
In last ditch attempts to match or trump Saints’ efforts, shots from the Manchester United loan, Nick Powell, along with Chris Wood, fired in at Fraser Forster, but to no avail. The sour taste of defeat was beginning to trickle into the mouths of the Leicester City squad. 90 minutes rang loudly across St. Mary’s, and that was it – another win for Saints. What more can I say?
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