Southampton V Swansea City The Verdict Wednesday, 27th Dec 2023 11:15 Saints moved up to 3rd in fine style, but more importantly by the end of the day's fixtures we had not only put a gap between us and Leeds, but pulled back Ipswich to within 5 points and made them look over their shoulders. The lunchtime result at Preston where Leeds went down 2-1 to a late goal, put the Saints supporters in buoyant mood as they headed into St Mary's, we had a great chance to gain a jump on our rivals, we just had to beat Russell Martin's old club Swansea City and perhaps beat them well as we searched for not only our 16th game unbeaten, but our 6th straight home win in what has become fortress St Mary's.
An hour before the game though the team news was interesting, there were two changes, in came Ryan Manning and also Jack Stephens, so would this be a change of formation to accommodate Stephens ? The answer was yes, we essentially played a back three of Stephens, Jan Bednarek & Taylor Harwood- Bellis with Ryan Manning and Kyle Walker Peters pushed forward for most of the game.
Saints dominated from the start, but before the scoring was opened it was the visitors who had two good chances, both saw men unmarked at the far post of both sides, the first was a difficult chance and went well over, the second saw former Pompey man Jamal Lowe completely unmarked and he really should have done better but fired high and wide from close range. From then on though it was plain sailing for Southampton, on 17 minutes Joe Aribo settled the nerves with a shot that took a deflection and Rushworth in the home goal was deceived and appeared to think it was going wide.
All that counted for the majority in St Mary's though was that it went in and it gave Saints confidence, but although Adam Armstrong had two good chances saved, nothing was added to the scoreline at the break. The worry was that this would give Swansea confidence in the second half, but within minutes of the restart, Saints had doubled their total in bizarre fashion, a back pass across the penalty area from the left back position looked simple for the keeper, but he missed the ball and it rolled invitingly across the goal a yard out, Sam Edozie got there first but he had a difficult position to get a shot in so he back heeled the ball, which despite a last minute effort by a Swansea defender just about crossed the line.
Now the game was firmly in our hands, thankfully as Russell Martin made his now customary change around the hour mark, it was only a two man change and not three, off went the duo of Downes and Stuart Armstrong and on came Smallbone and Charly Alcatraz, the change was an attacking one. But it would be the next change that would see Saints truly impose themselves on the game and pave the way for the goalfest in the last 20 minutes, off went Jack Stephens and Sam Edozie and on came Ryan Fraser and Che Adams, we reverted more to a back four, but had more attacking players going forward.
The benefits would be reaped withing 4 minutes, Adam Armstrong laid the ball across for Ryan Fraser who fired the ball into the far corner, 3-0 and the game was now safe and we could turn the screws. Sekou Mara came on for Adam Armstrong in the 80th minute and he would turn provider for the 4th goal as he laid the ball back for Fraser who lashed the ball into the same corner to make it 4-0 The 3rd minute of injury time saw Fraser this time turn provider, a sublime cross eventually reaching Che Adams at the far post who chested the ball down and fired home, many wondered if this would be the last time we will see Che in a Saints shirt and if so it will be nice that this was how he finished his time as a Southampton player.
So over all our most comprehensive victory of the season, both in terms of the scoreline and also the manner of the win, we didn't have as much of the ball as we have done in some games, only 60% possession in this one, but everyman did his job and those two early chances aside the visitors rarely threatened our goal, Gavin Bazunu had one shot on target, I can't remember it, his main duties were on crosses and passing the ball. The midfield was again a little pedestrian until we got the two goal cushion, but it could be said that is game management. This season the stadium announcer has taken to announcing a man of the match, it is unclear whose choice this is, most of the recent ones have seen those I speak to disagree and the Swansea choice was no different. Sam Edozie was the recipient, but although it cannot be denied that he had a very good game in the 70 minutes he was on the pitch, constantly taking on defenders and beating them and of course the goal, you have to balance that against what his replacement achieved in just 20 minutes, Ryan Frazer scored two and created a third with a great cross, he took the came from still being a little in the balance should Swansea have sneaked a goal, into a rout, for me and it seems most, he was truly the Wee Man who changed the game.
Elsewhere it was a true team effort, at the back we had little to test us but the back three after early worries settled into a rhythm and all three looked comfortable and met any attacks with ease.
Kyle Walker Peters and Ryan Manning got forward well and Joe Aribo again is enjoying a renaissance and deserved his goal, up front Sam Edozie has already been praised, but Adam Armstrong is the key to most attacks, for his assist for Aribo's goal it was a little fortunate, but it showed he can lay the ball off with his backside as well as anyone, for the second goal, it was he who harassed the full back into a back pass and for the 3rd goal a nice little short pass for Ryan Fraser that showed awareness of what is going on around him, even when he doesn't score himself he is key to most of our goals. At the moment you feel that Saints are invincible, they can win ugly as they did at QPR and they can will well as they have done against both Blackburn & Swansea, we have a squad that has players coming off the bench that can not only contribute but change games.
Yes it would be nice to have a goalscorer, but the good thing is that we have a lot of players in the squad that can score goals, in the last 3 games we have hit 10 goals without reply, but perhaps the most pertinent fact is that those 10 goals were scored by 8 different players, only Fraser and Edozie getting 2 goals apiece, our leading scorer Adam Armstrong didn't score in any of those games, but we are still scoring. January will bring some change in the ranks, I would expect Mason Holgate to return to Everton and Che Adams to depart, replacing them will be the key. But the most important stat of the day and indeed the week is how suddenly the top of the division is changing, firstly we are now 12 points ahead of 7th position, secondly we are 3 points ahead of Leeds and we are now in 3rd place, but thirdly we are now just 5 points behind Ipswich and 11 behind Leicester. The Foxes are still way ahead, but Ipswich are looking over their shoulders and we are truly the best team of the past 3 months since our unbeaten run began. Fourthly is our goal difference, we now have a plus 14 total, we have pulled back the damage from those two games that saw us concede 9 . Leicester have a GD of 31 so are way ahead, but Ipswich on 15 are just one ahead of us and Leeds on 18 just 4 ahead, goal difference could be crucial come May, but we are now there or thereabouts.
Russell Martin has fashioned a team that is strong in all departments and has gelled, he deserves the plaudits for that, he deserves this team to be backed to the hilt by both the board and the supporters, he has turned round a season that in September looked to be collapsing and we are starting to turn heads. I said it is all about keeping looking at our form, short, medium and long term and in this respects the last 3 games have seen us gain 9 points at an average of 3 per game, the last 6 games have seen us gain 14 points, that's 2.33 per game and the last 10 games 24 points at 2.40 per game . That is good however you look at it, even if we take the worst average of 2.33 and times it by the number of games left, that ,makes 22 x 2.33 = 51 points so that is 99 come May.
Ipswich are dropping fast, just 2 points in their last 3 games (0.67) 11 in their last 6(1.83) and 18 in their last 10 (1.8), they are starting to falter, if we take their best average 22 x 1.83, that is 40 points and they end the season on 83 points. It could be fine lines with Leeds averaging 2.3 over their last 10, but they are the sides worrying about us now, as i say it is a war of attrition and we are winning it and have to keep winning it. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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