Southampton V Leicester City The Verdict Sunday, 5th Mar 2023 10:35 Saints started the day on the bottom of the table and in danger of being cast adrift, it would be a roller coaster afternoon, but by 7.30 pm suddenly the season had changed and the fans were starting to believe again. Before the Saints faithful could make their way to St Mary's for the 5.30pm kick off, they had to keep one eye & ear on the TV & radio soccer programmes for the news from the other grounds. Within a minute after the 3pm kick offs things were looking bad, Bournemouth had scored at Arsenal, at half time things were not going our way, the Cherries still led, Leeds were holding Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Wolves holding Spurs and the only thing in our favour was Brighton's narrow one goal lead against West Ham. Relief came around 4.15pm when Chelsea scored, but they got worse 4 minutes later when Bournemouth added a second, things were looking bleak, but then the turning point of the season came, not at St Mary's but at the Emirates when Arsenal scored with 28 minutes to go, when they equalised on 70 minutes it was a relief, but the winner did not materialise and as the game descended into injury time it looked a forlorn hope but suddenly the screen buzzed and new came through of a 97th minute winner for the Gunners, a big moment in Saints season, it meant that we could haul ourselves off the bottom.
So the crowd were a little more positive as they walked to St Mary's, social media had been toxic, but the fans in the stadium were not, they had come to back the team, albeit cautiously and thinking this was perhaps our last stand, but the crowd was with the team. Ruben Selles might have read the preview on here, his team almost matched the team I suggested, the only difference was Jan Bednarek was still in the team and strangely Tall Paul Onauchu was on the bench and Theo Walcott in, but more of this later. However the game didn't quite go to plan, Leicester came out of the traps as if their lives depended on it and they passed the ball swiftly and quickly , it looked like this might be a tough day. But the team did not buckle, they were chasing shadows at times but they kept chasing them and didn't let the Foxes get much of a chance on goal. By the half hour mark we had steadied the ship and were competing and it almost paid dividends as we were awarded a penalty, James Ward Prowse stepped up and saw his effort saved, was this not going to be our day ?
Three minutes later we had the answer when Charly Alcatraz fired home a superb shot that left Leicester keeper Ward with no chance, the ground erupted and it seems the players had also read the preview when I stated that if the players wanted the crowd with them they had to give them something to cheer. But it would be a nervy hour or so for the Saints fans, the game would stay to the same pattern, Leicester having a lot of possession and passing it around and us working our socks off to make sure they didn't get a clear chance on goal. Ruben Selles made the right substitutions to bring on fresh legs and making sure that we kept our work rate at maximum. It wasn't pretty to watch, I wouldn't say we were playing well, but we were battling harder than Leicester.
One moment that perhaps highlighted the display was by Adam Armstrong, with the visitors trying to play a ball that looked like splitting the defence, Armstrong read it well and made a timely interception that allowed us to break with a counter attack, but as we approached the box he overran the ball and couldn't get a pass away to Mara in a good position. For some this was a bad moment, but for me it highlighted how our players were working hard, if they were making a mistake it was in the Leicester final third and not our own as it was at Leeds and indeed in countless games before, Armstrong had done the job he had to when it mattered.
As I mentioned it was a nervy end and Leicester scraped the bar with a header, again some would say that Gavin Bazunu came and missed the cross from the corner, but in truth it was a great cross that was fizzing across the box, Bazunu was never going to get it, but he had to make sure that their players didn't get a clear view of the ball and this he did. The final whistle was a relief, now we can truly say we have a chance of getting out of this, it had been a topsy turvy 4 1/2 hours, but we ended it leaping above Bournemouth and now level pegging with Everton with only a 2 goal difference keeping them above us. Leeds in that safety spot are only a point ahead and West Ham just two points and Leicester are just 3 points ahead, although Wolves won they and Crystal Palace have only a 6 point gap between them and the bottom 3. We have dragged ourself up and we have kept the relegation battle to still 9 clubs. Everton travel to Nottingham Forest this afternoon and this is a game that if Forest win by two goals or more we would jump above the Toffee's on goal difference and with a game in hand to boot. But I think a draw would be the better result for Saints, it would keep Everton just a point above us and Forest themselves would still be just 5 points ahead, a win for them would see them virtually safe on 28 points. A good afternoon's work for Southampton Football Club, one that gives us hope we can get out, Ruben Selles learned his lessons from the Leeds & Grimsby games and showed that he still has his players behind him, the FA Cup game was a disappointment, so was the Leeds game especially the Leeds game a draw there would have seen us out of the relegation zone this morning, we are that close.
But no one could argue that 6 points from his first 3 games is not a good return for Ruben Selles, to be sure we perhaps need 18 points from our final 13 games, although I think it may be slightly less, but essentially that is 1.38 points a game or 4 points every 3 games. Things aren't quite there just yet, but they have taken a big step forward in the last fortnight. Saints have won as a team, although I am sure some will look to pick holes with certain players who are not "Fan favourites" but things have improved in that we now don't just sit back and watch the opposition benefit from a mistake, we battle to make sure they don't. I have no problem with people pointing out where a player has made a mistake etc, but what is not good is the vitriol that sometimes accompanies that criticism. We have conceded just once in the last 3 games and there is no one who would have predicted that low total a few weeks ago. Lets get behind our manager and team for the remainder of the season, rather than spend our time slagging off individuals. 100% from the manager, players and the fans in the next two months will see us pull clear, if we can still be in touch after the wretched run in the final weeks of Ralph's reign and all but one game of Nathan Jones, now we have changed things our rivals will certainly be worried. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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