Report

IBO Reporter: Spot51

|SMS was half full, which seems odd given that this is the only competition we can win in. Stoke, in all black, kicked off, but once we got it, they rarely saw it again. Over the 99 minutes played, we averaged just under 80% possession which must have given Russ a massive stiffy as he watched from above.

Sadly, domination of the ball did not deliver a host of chances against the Championship strugglers, and despite making dozens of runs, Archer only achieved three touches in the first half. Jack Bonham, in their goal, was making his first start since February and must’ve been disappointed not to get more opportunities to prove his worth.

It was 11m in before we actually took a shot when Aribo hit it from distance, but Bonham saved. Five minutes later, Fraser fouled Tchamadou, and from the free kick, the same player won a header, which dropped to Vigidal, whose shot was way over the bar.

Saints continued to hog the ball and forced Tchamadeu to concede a corner. With JWP and Stu long gone, it seems Suga and Rosie share the free-kick duties. The Portuguese swung over this corner, and Bonham tried to claim it but was blocked by one of his defenders. This allowed THB to run off his marker and place a trademark downward header through the legs and into the net. 1-0 Saints and a 3rd goal for England’s Future Captain.

Mateus set up our next chance too, finding Ugo, but his effort was high and wide. Then Bonham mysteriously went down, and on came the medics. The commentators suggested this is what keepers are told to do when things are going tits up so the outfield players can gather at the dugout for coaching advice. After 2m, the game carried on.

Suga played in AA down our right, but he ignored Archer’s run and took the shot, forcing a routine save at the keeper’s near post. We then strung several dozen passes together, but Bonham claimed it when Bree eventually launched the ball across. Rosie then sent Fraser through, but Phillips blocked his shot.

Our next attack saw Suga carry the ball into Stoke’s box where he tussled with Dixon. As Suga won it back, the youngster took his legs and went over. Penalty! Up stepped the captain and stuck it away for his first goal since Wembley. 2-0.

I didn’t see what happened to Fraser, but on 37m, he limped off and was replaced by Cornet. Boy, did the Ivorian need those minutes! His first few touches were awful, and it took him a while to adjust to the pace of the game.

On 40m, Joe sent a lovely pass through the Stoke defence, but AA had set off too soon and flagged offside. With a minute left, Ugo fouled Vidigal, allowing Bocat to launch a free kick. Rose met it, but his header was weak; it bounced off Suga, and Phillips somehow contrived to backheel it over the line. FFS! 2-1. There were three added minutes

AA did create one last chance, but the hapless Cornet failed to connect, and the half ended at 2-1 with their one shot on target going in.

With no further changes, the second half began with AA kicking off and Saints hogging possession. My notes record “Cornet is shite”, although I can’t recall exactly what prompted that. The first shot of the half came from Ugo, but Bonham was able to watch it sail well wide. The next attack halted when Cornet was offside, but Stoke then launched one of their own.

Seko found Tchamadou breaking forward. His first shot was blocked, but he continued his run down the right side of the box before drilling it low and hard across the goal area. Our defence made a good impression of those metal defenders they use to practice shooting past a defensive wall. The main culprit was Suga, who stood watching Cannon run off him and smash the ball past Ramsdale. Two shots were on target, two goals were scored, and now it was 2-2. How very Saints!

The one positive is that we did not then collapse and hand them the win. We kept going forward and dominating possession. Bocat upended Aribo down our right wing, and Archer's eyes lit up as Fernandes' cross came his way. Sadly, he was reaching for the ball, and his header skewed past the post.

On the hour, Stoke replaced Cannon with Koumas, but the game continued to be played in their half. We won three quick corners, but Stoke refused to be caught out again and repulsed the threat. There was then a bout of handbags as Ugo and Tchamanou squared up and other players piled in. When the dust settled, their right-back and our captain were booked.

Soon after, Saints made further substitutions, with BBD and Tall Paul replacing Fernandes and the luckless Archer. He did most things right, but when you aren’t given the ball, you cannot score!

AA won a corner off Dixon, which they cleared before Stoke made further changes on 71m. Off came Vidigal and Sidibe, replaced by Manhoef and Moran.

During the penultimate 10m, Tchamadeu, Bonham and Dixon were all “injured” and needed the medics on. If that did not signal the proximity of penalties, Saints’ following changes did. Sam AA for Real AA was a straight swap, but Sully for Bednarek was extraordinary. It looked like Ugo was now in the back four.

The changes raised us from our torpor, and THB (now wearing the armband) went close to scoring another as he met Bree’s cross, recycling a corner. The header went just wide, though. We quickly recovered the ball, but Sully’s shot went high.

Sully was looking lively, and our next attack saw him cross to Tall Paul, but his header went back past the post. Stoke then replaced Bocat with Burger, whose first involvement was to kick Ben BD up in the air. Then Tchamadeu was down injured again. Penalties seemed inevitable.

How wrong was I? First, Manhoef carried the ball past our whole defence and toed the ball beyond Ramsdale. FFS, Saints were all over the place, but over the hill rode Sugawara, who scampered back and, before the entire ball was over the whole line, hooked it to safety. He might not have been great when they scored the earlier goals, but that was fine defending.

Our next foray forward down the left saw Sully launch another cross towards Tall Paul. A defender headed it back and, unable to cross again, Sully turned inside. Bree was backing him up and unmarked, so the Ghanaian gave him the ball. Lulled by our unwillingness to shoot, none of the defenders rushed to close him down, so JB took one pace to the right before smashing the ball low into the bottom near-post corner. 3-2.

We were not home and hosed yet as the 4th official signalled +8m. We had two right backs, one centre half and a load of penalty takers on the park, and Stoke went back onto the attack. On 93m, Suga conceded a corner, but when the ball was in the air, the Ref spotted Phillips using WWE tactics on our keeper and gave the free kick.

Our final attack was halted when Tall Paul was caught offside, and Stoke were left shooting from range but not hitting the target. Rather than track back, they chose to foul ours to keep us in our half, but time was not on their side. The final whistle was 3-2, and the Saints were in the quarter-finals.

That was a hard watch. Despite going 2-0 up and dominating the game the first twice, they got a shot on target they scored. Ramsdale made no saves, yet they beat him twice and had another hacked off the line.

In the EPL, we have conceded late goals that cost us points too many times, and I’m thankful Stoke lacked that top-flight quality to capitalise on our inadequacies. Our “reward” for victory is a 2nd home game with Liverpool before Xmas. At least we have retained the traditional Saints’ ability to raise our game against the top sides, but I’m not super-confident of a semi-final this season.

Man of the Match

James Bree retains the tarnish of arriving with Nathan Jones from Luton during our previous dreadful EFL campaign. Subsequent bosses have used him sparingly, and with Suga joining this year and KWP staying, he is now 3rd choice right back.

Rather than sulk or throw tantrums, James has got on with his job as a squad player and, whenever called upon, never lets the club or his teammates down. He is an honest pro.

On Tuesday, he got a rare 90+ minutes at left back and gave a good performance in what turned out to be a tricky match. His joy at scoring an 88m winner was plain to see, making him my MoM. Well played!