Report

IBO Reporter: Spot51

|With both sides adopting similar shapes, United, in a dark blue kit, made the early running in a period disrupted by several fouls. Saints seemed comfortable in their shape and began to dominate possession. On 7m, Suga sent Dibling barreling past Dalot before cutting in and curling a left-footed shot that drew a good stop from Onana. The Northam End howled their appreciation.

Saints then stepped onto United and ensured the ball stayed at their end for a few minutes. This was straight out of the Russ Playbook, yet it only produced one further chance: Ugo fed Archer, whose shot cannoned off one of their centre backs.

It was 15 minutes before United got their first sight of the goal. Amad got down their right and laid the ball back to Eriksen. The Dane’s curling cross was met by Zirkzee, whose effort was stopped by Ramsdale and hacked away by Suga \at the back post. United maintained pressure, and Jan was obliged to concede a corner on 17m.

Eriksen was on corner duty, and all our players were standing along the 6-yard box. When the corner was headed clear, we had no one to contest the second ball, so Mazraoiu had time to volley it from range. Fortunately, it was straight at Ramsdsale, who held on.

That “all hands to the pumps” defending of corners would come back to haunt us.

Saints were still moving forward with purpose, but when KWP was caught upfield as United recovered possession, they moved quickly up the pitch where Bruno F stuck his effort wide. He pleaded for a corner, but the lino wasn’t having it. Is there anything more pathetic than Bruno’s impression of a scolded puppy?

There was a brief delay while Mazraoiu was down and hurt, so several players took on liquid and talked to their coaches. The play restarted with Saints on the front foot. BBD got down the left and put in an inviting cross, but the impressive Onana collected it above all comers. Down the other flank, Dibling and Suga were doubling up to frighten Dalot. The youngster set the Japanese in on goal, but again, their defenders got their bodies in the way.

Suga was involved in our next attack when he curled over a cross that eluded Onana, but he was just out of BBD’s reach as he cut in. On 26m, Mateus F caught Mainoo dawdling on the ball and stepped onto it. Mainoo went over and stopped the ball in the crook of his arm. United players are used to getting the free kick in such situations, but Mr Attwell booked Mainoo for handball.

Well, on top, Saints were desperate to score, and when Tyler next flew past Dalot, the defender hacked him down. Yellow card shown. Peach of a free kick from Suga picked out Ugo, centre of the goal, but he conspired to put his header over. Damn and Blast!

United retained a threat on the break, and when De Ligt sent Amad away, he got a shot off from the edge of our box. Ramsdale dropped onto it in the middle of his goal. We played out and sent the ball right for Dibling to have another run at Dalot. He went past and cut in towards their box. Dalot arrived after the ball had gone and collected Tyler as he entered the area. Easy decision for the Ref - Penalty Saints!

Man Utd players queued up to argue the toss with Stuart Attwell as Sky kept replaying the foul, hoping to prove it was outside the box, but could not. VAR agreed.

With AA and AL on the bench, I wondered who our designated taker was. During the whinging delay, BBD stood quietly with the ball under his arm. Yet, when the United players were shooed out of the box, and Onana sent to his line, Cameron Archer stepped forward. At the time, I didn’t know he’d never taken a penalty in first-class football, so it was an even stranger choice than just piling responsibility on a kid making his first EPL start against such opponents.

It was a shocking penalty. Low, not in the corner, and a keeper of Onana’s quality will have been disappointed not to have held it. Instead, the ball looped back onto Archer’s head, but he put it right into the keeper’s gloves to complete the save.

What happened next was unforgivable in top-level sports. Our side completely capitulated, and United were allowed the freedom of St Mary’s to do whatever they wished. I feel sorry for Russ, his coaches, and our fans, as just giving up in a game we were effectively bossing is disgraceful.

When Saints went in at half-time, they were 2-0 down after signally failing to defend two corners. The lift the penalty miss gave United’s players was tangible, and a reinvigorated Rashford cut through our defence like butter and found Zirkzee, whose low drive needed tipping round the post as Ramsdale dived full length.

Again, all of ours were between the posts, so Eriksen was able to roll the ball to Bruno on the left side of our box. He had time to mix a cocktail and light a cigar whilst sizing up his options. The red shirts had moved up en bloc until, inexplicably, bloody Jack Stephens dropped back, playing 3 of theirs onside. Bruno delivered, De Light rose (completely unchallenged by Jack, who stood watching), then stuck his header across the goal beyond our keeper’s dive. 0-1 FFS!

United were rampant. The folly of playing KWP at left back was cruelly exposed as a jubilant Amad ran riot down the right. On 39m, he played in Bruno, but we blocked his shot. A minute later, Amad cut inside and played a crossfield pass to Rashford, who hit it low and hard. Again, Ramsdale got fingers on, turning it past the post. A corner from the right this time.

Again, all ours were getting in Ramsdale’s way but moved forward en-masse as the cross came over. I don’t know who got a touch, but the ball carried on beyond the back post, where three blue shirts awaited. We did get over quickly so Amad could not play it back across. Instead, he rolled it back to Rashford. Realising the danger, our players tried to close him down, but one touch inside and a low, hard drive sent the ball arrowing towards the far post. It came through a “forest of legs”, but Ramsdale may not have saved it had his view been clear. Right in the corner: 0-2. Bollocks!!

The remainder of the half was like an old-fashioned coconut shy, with United attempting to get another, us responding with defensive blocks, and Aaron saving from De Ligt following another corner. During +4m, United took a breather and kept the ball, and our shattered team must have been happy to get down the tunnel for halftime, Bovril. 0-2!

There were no personnel changes at halftime and, sadly, no changes to the direction the match was headed. To say we didn’t turn up in the second half would be only a mild exaggeration, as we barely got near their goal, let alone move Onana out of his comfort zone. United might have had a field day had they been bothered, but they seemed confident the points were theirs and began having fun. With his goal drought ended, Rashford (who I like as a player) became their most dangerous player, and he might have scored again if it hadn’t been for Mr Stubborn in our goal. Everything may have been going tits up in front of him, but Aaron’s professionalism kept the score down.

In terms of goalmouth action, fullback Mazraiou was the first to try his luck. Breaking beyond Amad, he tried to beat Ramsdale at his near post but stuck it in the side netting. Next up was Rashford, collecting the ball from Eriksen and shooting. The ever-dependable Bednarek blocked it for a corner. Eriksen took it, but the ball came within our keeper’s reach, and he held on.

United weren’t very interested in defending, so when Mateus F breezed past Eriksen, he was crudely tugged back, and the Dane was booked. Rashford won another corner on the hour, shooting from a distance, forcing Aaron to tip it over. The ball came to Bruno F from this corner, but his effort was blocked.

Then came a host of Saints substitutions: off came Archer, Dibling, Ugo and BBD, replaced by Stuart, Cornet, Wee Man and Lallana, with only Mateus left of the starting front 4. Moments after the restart, Bruno chased a ball down the line. Making out he’d kept it in (and ignoring the lino’s flag), he smashed the ball crossfield and was booked. Cue more whingeing.

The changes made very little difference to the game. Our subs ran about a bit, but we did not regain control of the match. About 10 minutes passed, punctuated with niggly fouls and free kicks and a card for Cornet before Red Eric made his changes. Off went Rashford, Eriksen, and Mazraoiu, who Garnacho, Ugarte and Maguire replaced. De Light moved to right back.

Harry Maguire’s first involvement saw him upend Stewart and collect a booking. Eric probably regretted tinkering with his back four as they began dropping like flies. On 77m, they finally persuaded Lisandro Martinez to leave the field. The Argentinian defender looks like a guy who’d continue playing with a limb hanging off and had been limping for several minutes but was still sharp enough to win the ball off Cornet and clear it. Johnny Evans came on in his stead.

Out of the blue, Kobbie Mainoo attempted a shot on goal, but it cannoned to safety off one of ours. We must have then got forward ourselves, as when United won the ball, Garnacho was deep in his own half. He progressed up the wing until struck by an unguided Cap’n Jack closing at warp speed with studs raised. Over goes the winger, and off goes Jack. I can only assume Russ didn’t see it clearly, as his protest earned him a yellow. The Referee’s report also mentioned verbals from Jack, which will hopefully earn him a longer ban, so we can now play a back four with better footballers.

Russ had to replace Mateus, who’d done OK till we all stopped playing, sending on THB to bolster the back 4. On 87m, De Ligt had to be replaced (he said later it was just a cramp), so with no more defenders on the bench, they sent on Casemiro alongside Harry and moved Evans to the left back. For a brief moment, I experienced hope that we might now be able to get at their Darby & Joan defence, but in the remaining minutes, we showed no sign of throwing off our post-penalty-miss torpor.

It was United who still showed the gumption to create chances, and Garnacho set up Bruno, who fired wide. In the first of +6m, Zirkzee was given a great chance to score by Mainoo’s through ball. He had Aaron going the wrong way but was thwarted by the leg of THB, clearing the ball in front of his keeper.

Zirkzee then created an opportunity for Garnacho. This time, Jan got in the way, sending the ball out for a final corner. When this came into our box, the Ref had blown for a foul on Bedders, who was prostrate in the penalty area.

Then, as we moved into the 7th added minute, long-suffering Saints fans got one last kick in the bollocks when Casemiro opened us up. He found the overlapping run of Dalot, who picked out Garnacho in front of the goal. Bang - even Ramsdale wasn’t stopping that! Replays showed Dalot would have been offside if THB had moved up when the other defenders did. FFS! Saints 0 United 3 - thank feck that was over!

I can’t recall seeing such a collapse in the 50+ years I’ve watched Southampton. We won the first 30 minutes, hands down, and were finally given the opportunity to go ahead in a league game. Penalties get missed, but you carry on. You are holding one precious point, so you don’t just throw in the towel.

Russ talked about “mentality” post-match—Nail on head! Our first-half play showed we have the talent to survive, but we just stopped competing after the penalty miss. We need somebody to get inside the players’ heads to give them a winning attitude.

Man Of The Match

All the early excitement evaporated, and we struggled to stay in the game for the final hour. No one showed any leadership, and our so-called captain contributed nothing of value. His thuggish foul on Garnacho deserved a straight red, and I’d happily see Russ give the armband to someone our players can respect.

One man stood between us and another of those historic, massive defeats that our club occasionally experiences. That man was Aaron Ramsdale. I’m not sure anyone could have saved the goals he conceded, yet all three were caused by our outfield players not doing their jobs properly.

Ramsdale is years younger than Pickford and Pope and came here to get noticed and challenge them for the England jersey. He probably now realises he will get plenty of opportunities to display his talent behind our defence.