I said in the preview that a hero had to emerge if we were to get anything out of this game and one did in the unlikely form of Lyanco who showed his team mates the spirit they needed to get something out of the game and they followed his example.

When the team was announced at 1pm the real shock was the omittance of Che Adams from the starting XI, but many were equally surprised that Moi Elyounoussi was still in the side, but more of that later.

In essence though Saints were missing 4 of their 5 best players though injury, and it could be said that if he hadn't been unable to play as it was against his parent club Maitland-Niles would have been a 5th player in the side after his performance at Bournemouth.

So here we go, a team with half of it's best outfield players missing against an Arsenal side who in their previous 10 games had won 9, dropping points in just one game.

Arsenal started brightly as you would have expected, they probably read the reports from last season that suggested that if you came out of the traps early doors against us then you could catch us cold.

That seemed to be the case as they created several chances in the first 10 minutes, but they went wide and Gavin Bazunu also saved well, however on 11 minutes they scored, a fine move down the right seeing the ball bulled back for Xhaka for fire home leaving the keeper no chance.

At this stage you could feel the worry in the Saints support and Arsenal for another 10 minutes or so looked like they could rack up a hatful.

However around the 20 minute mark you could feel something had changed, Saints had a new found resilience, suddenly they were winning balls that before they had been losing, they weren't letting the Gunners play little triangles around us and you could see hope that Saints were not going to lie down as they would have done in the previous seasons.

As the half went on Saints grew in confidence and part of that was a tactical switch where we went to a back three with wingbacks.

As the half wore on we actually pushed the visitors back and a flurry of corners sadly didn't produce a real effort on goal, but we had got to the break without conceding a second and had something to build on.

The second half saw the Gunners again threaten but then an unlikely hero emerged, firstly on the hour mark with Jesus through on goal it looked like even God wouldn't be able to stop him, he was being chased by Moi Elyounoussi who up to this point had not had the best of games, no one was holding out much hope, but somehow the Saints man got in a sliding blocking tackle just as the Arsenal man pulled the trigger.

This seemed to inspire Saints and with the crowd now firmly behind them, the equaliser wasn't far off and it was again Elyounoussi who played the star role, driving towards the goal with the ball he laid through a perfectly wwighted pass that Stuart Armstrong slotted past Ramsdale.

Now the crowd was up on it's feet and suddenly the game had turned, but the Gunners weren't finished, they still looked threatening but in the main the Saints defence stood firm, the only worrying moment when Ødegaard seemed to have scored, but the linesman spotted the ball had gone out for a goal kick before it could be crossed.

In the closing stages Arsenal again looked dangerous as they looked to get all three points, but Lyanco was now urging not only his team mates on but the crowd as well and we were in no mood to give it away now we had got a point in sight.

The 5 minutes of extra time were tense but an almighty roar greeted the final whistle.

This was again another great team performance by Saints, those that have been claiming that Ralph Hasenhuttl has lost the dressing room had no evidence here, this was a side that was battling and not collapsing, it had team spirit and as mentioned half of the side were missing.

At the back we looked strong after the opening flurry, Caleta-Car held the back line and brought in the experience and leadership we have lacked, it will be interesting to see how he now develops and although he might not be another Virgil Van Dijk, he is a step up from what we have had since the Dutchman's departure to Liverpool, actually that is not quite true, Salisu & Bella Kotchap are very good signings, which shows how we have progressed over the past couple of years and Lyanco showed that he can play a bigger part in the team than he has so far.

In the midfield James Ward Prowse got low markings from fans, but that is unfair, since the injury to Lavia he has had to play a different game, for the past few seasons he has played like Steve Williams at the heart of every Saints attack, but due to the youngsters injury he has had to sit back in front of the backline, he is now Steve Davis, playing a role that goes unappreciated at the time, he ran he battled he harassed the Arsenal midfield, he tidied up the loose balls, he was available for a short pass and an outlet, he rarely lost a tackle or a header and in the main he just did the job he was there for, when he got the ball he played the simple 10 yard pass.

No one wins the Ballon D'Or for this type of role and judging by the voting not even a man of the match award, on the BBC match report Saints fans gave him the worst mark of all the Saints players of 5.64, even Theo Walcott who did little in his 17 minute cameo got more, what is that all about !

This was a game that for us was never going to be about flowing football and taking the opposition apart, it was going to be about working hard for every inch of the turf, keeping concentration and staying focused on the task in hand and we did that.

The heavens opened up in Biblical proportions as Saints fans streamed out of the stadium, but it didn't dampen the spirits and we all left with a smile on our faces.

We have built up a squad with potential, that now just lacks a finishing edge to it, we have gone from the side that gave away more points from winning positions, to the one that has rescued more points from a losing scoreline.

In our 12 games we have played 5 of the Big Six clubs so no one can say we have had it easy, we can cope with injury crisis now, as we have a squad with more depth, we are a young side and getting better and more experienced with every game.

The future can be bright for Saints, although sadly I feel that many refuse to see that as long as Ralph Hasenhuttl is in charge even though we are clearly moving forward.

As always at Southampton FC we have to do things the hard way, there always seems to be an issue, at the moment it is an injury crisis, some of those out will be back before the International Break, but some may not be, however when football return's after Xmas we will have these players back and in January if we get a striker then we could shock a few people.

Yesterday was a game that we keep going to football for, one that we battled against adversary and got something out of the game, it was enjoyable to cheer your team on and get that feeling at the final whistle of joy and excitement, there was no toxic atmosphere at St Mary's.

These days I only fear defeat because of the toxic posts on social media that follow, a small minority who have spent the last couple of year always needing a target for their abuse, be in former owner Gao, CEO Semmens or Ralph Hasenhuttl.

But I should finish this verdict on a positive note, at 1pm 8 days ago before we took on West Ham, we knew we were facing a tough three games, but we have come through them with 5 points in the bag and that has been a step forward.

Lyanco was not the best player on the pitch yesterday in terms of ability, but he made up for that with his fighting spirit, he won every ball and epitomised the spirit this team has at the moment, it is young and lacks Premier League experience, but the youngsters are not shirking and the likes of Lyanco and James Ward Prowse are driving them on by example, they can only get better, of course things aren't perfect, but we can see hope going forward now, something that was hard to find over the last couple of years.

Photo: Action Images

bryanK added 20:37 - Oct 24 Lyanco what a performance. Ale House football once attributed to us by Bill Shankland about McGrath,Walker, Gabriel etc for those that can remember. All Saints fans are always stirred by 110% commitment and that was especially true in the second half. Regardless of the RH situation some good performances on Sunday.
1

davidargyll added 07:41 - Oct 25 A cracking game from which ultimately we deserved at least as much as the point we got. I only have one disagreement, which is about JWP. I thought he had a poor game, even if he was to some extent playing away from his best position, but he did keep on mispassing and could have cost us, but hey ho, put that down to a bad day at the office. Where I do think he should concentrate more on is his corner kicking. He always seems to lump it either towards the near post or into to the general melee in front of goal. When we have conceded from a corner in the past it has more often than not been one sent to or even beyond the far post. So why no try that James? Because our/your dead ball play in the last couple of months frankly has been worse than useless, relying on luck more than anything else, so we are not going to lose anything by mixing it up a bit. (I was going to bang on again about what a complete waste of time our long throw-ins are but I’ll leave that for another day…)

0

WoolstonSaint2 added 09:09 - Oct 25 Lyanco is a proper defender. Gets stuck in and tackles like he means it. Scares the daylights out of lightweight diving forwards. Love it. JWP is not a centre midfielder. I'd start Lyanco and Lavia there when fit, and stick JWP right mid in a 4-2-3-1, where he can whip in crosses for our new CF to be signed in January....
0

saintmark1976 added 19:03 - Oct 25 Late to the party on this one. We were poor in the first half and if Arsenal could have finished properly we could have been four down at half time. Much better second half and deserved a point. I’ve said time without number that Ralph doesn’t know his best team and that was proven on Sunday, injuries were once more needed to point him the right direction, Reminded me of when J W P was absent and we actually played better. Did anybody else listen to Blackmore on Solent after the game when I thought that he said he expected Ralph to be gone in November. Was it a slip of the tongue, prior knowledge, or simply my bad hearing? Seventeen points from the last Seventy Two is relegation form and needs to improve very quickly to save Ralph’s job I suspect.

0

KriSaint added 14:17 - Oct 28 Good article Nick. There are more positives than negatives before Palace, and the only thing, I think, needs further comment, is the fact that Ruben Selles seems like an important assistant for Ralphie when it comes to discussing game management, tactics, formation etc.
0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Burton Albion Polls