Cardiff came with a gameplan and they executed it with precision to beat a Saints side that lacked variety and cutting edge.
I said in the pre match preview that i though that the loss of Jay Rodriguez would effect Saints in more ways than just his being missing, that our entire tactics and formation relied on our two fast attacking players cutting in from the wings and without either one of them we would struggle, this proved to be the case and without J Rod we did now have a player outside of the two full backs who had genuine pace.
From the very start it was clear how Cardiff had set themselves out, everyman behind the ball, let Saints pass it around in the middle of the park where it looked nice but did very little damage and stop them creating chances.
This they did and although Saints had 68% possession and 19 shots on goal, the Cardiff keeper Marshall only had one save of note to make.
If Saints had got a goal you feel they would have won the game comfortably, perhaps then the visitors would have had to open out and we would have had a chance to put them to the sword, but the problem was that we could not deliver either in the way of decisive passes and crosses or making the Cardiff keeper earn his pay.
Thats not to say we didn't have the opportunities to break their stoic defence down, Shaw time and time again got down the wing and into decent positions, but time and time again he failed to deliver a cross that caused Cardiff problems.
At the back both Fonte and Lovren looked dodgy especially in the second half and didnt seem to be playing in tandem, in the first half they had little to do but in the second they found themselves busier and they didnt look happy.
In goal all eyes were on Gazzaniga, in the first half he had little to do apart from a succession of corners where he was put under pressure but dealt with it each time, in the second half again he had little to do but as the game went on you could see him rise in confidence and he made a great save late on when Zaha was through on goal.
Saints now have Stoke City breathing down their necks and only five points behind, my concern is where the next points are coming from, we seemed to lack motivation yesterday and more worringly we lacked innovation and leadership, as mentioned in the preview, we dont have the players to play the managers preferred formation now, we have to change otherwise there will be plenty of repeats of this result.
I was also sad to see the bench devoid of some of our promising youngsters, what was the point of having Guly there, now im not a Guly knocker I am appreciative of what he has done for the club, but he will leave in the summer so what was the points, surely far better to try someone like Harrison Reed, Omar Rowe or Josh Sims.
On Saturday we were far too predictable, Cardiff with the poorest away record in the division handled us easily, in the last four games that has to change otherwise not only Newcastle will catch us but Stoke as well