Saints At Queens Park Rangers The Verdict

Only one thing mattered in this game and that was that Saints were in front when the final whistle was blown.

Saints looked like they were going to drop a couple points despite dominating the game at Loftus Road, they looked comfortable throughout the game with the only scare being when Fraser Forster had to react brilliantly to turn over a deflected shot from close range, however it looked like we would pay for squandering a number of old opportunities.

But just as it looked like we would be taking only one point home, up popped Sadio Mane to spark scenes of mayhem in the away section, in truth although it was harsh on Rangers who had battled hard it was nothing more than Saints deserved.

The good thing though is that we had players coming back from injury and that means the squad is getting stronger by the week ready for a run of tough fixtures, but in the meantime we have to keep winning and that is just what we did here and this result could matter come the last day of the season.

Florin Gardos appeared to have taken the blame for the defeat in the cup to Palace and was on the bench last week, he probably didn't think he would get a chance so early in this game to come on, but after the injury to Matt Target who was down for over 6 minutes before he was stretchered off still motionless, that meant a reshuffle at the back but it didn't upset the balance of the side and Gardos had a decent game as did Yoshida who switched to left back

But the star of the show waited till the last minutes of the game to take a pass from Yoshida, hold off his man and hen lashing the ball into the far corner for a vital three points.

There is still a long way to go this season, but sometimes goals like this don't only change games but change seasons and these two extra points snatched at the death could be vital.

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