Saints V Guangzhou The Verdict Wednesday, 24th Jul 2019 03:49 This was a game that Ralph Hasenhuttl did not want to play as was shown by the virtual academy team that was sent out to Macau, but it was still an easy victory. There was a good smattering of Saints shirts in the stadium in Macau, most were locals from either Macau itself or nearby Hong Kong but The Ugly Inside sent it's representatives in a grovelling band of six. Saints scored in the first minute of the game with a goalkeeping mistake giving a second goal for Che Adams in a Saints shirt and from then on it was never a question of the result, Shane Long added a second, Che Adams missed a penalty and Callum Slattery saw a goal ruled out before Yan Valery made it three just before half time. At this point it became a rout and at the break Saints took off the first team players meaning the second half was mainly academy players. But Saints still dominated and you sensed that perhaps they had been told to stay in control of the game, but concentrate on passing and keeping the ball rather than scoring a hateful and embarrassing their hosts. That meant that the fourth and final goal did not arrive till the final minute when Christoph Klarer headed home. This game was not about pre season though, hence Ralph Hasenhuttl's decision not to send most of his first team squad, it was about building the Southampton name in the Far East and taking small steps into making us a global brand. Sadly that is what you have to do if you want to be able to hold your own in the Premier League these days, the nearby Venetian Hotel and casino boasted a shopping mall that contained a Manchester United superstore that looked like it does far more business than ours does, how many other ones have United got over the world doing the same ? A pleasant evening for the TUI Six who flew the flag for the Saints support out there and to be fair the football or who was wearing the shirt did not matter, it was about having a great holiday and seeing Hong Kong & Macau. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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