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Saints V Derby County The Verdict

The theme of this FA Cup 3rd round tie has been the word "Overturned" two 2-0 leads and a Derby County goal disallowed by VAR.

The 14,651 who turned out for this game witnessed a Saints performance that after 70 minutes looked to be a near perfect one although just before half time it took VAR to spot an offside in a Derby goal that although was correct was a matter of inches.

Saints had been in control before the break missing several good chances, but after they took command with Elyounoussi who seemed to be the whipping boy on the night and on social media since taking the ball from the right which he chipped perfectly for Shane Long to head home, only he didn;t with a defender managing to scramble it off the line but Stuart Armstrong headed home the clearance from close range.

A coupe of minutes later it was two with Nathan Redmond again showing he can take games by the scruff of the net.

So with 20 minutes left it was cruise control for Saints with the game looking in their pockets, with 14 minutes left it was much the same with a third looking likely but then came the usual problem of defending.

A free kick went right across the goal with no our defence rushing out and leaving Derby offside but the ball went straight across the goal into the far corner, but that wasn't the worst, on 82 minutes another cross and Ramsey and Stephens were ball watching to allow Waghorn a complete free header from six yards out, a complete feeling of deja vu here, how many times have we seen that happen in the last two years.

In truth at times Saints held on in the final minutes and in extra time, but they also had some good chances to win the game, they didn't and penalties saw us out of the FA Cup after spurning a two goal lead against Derby not once but twice.

Elyounoussi was the whipping boy, but truthfully he wasn't the worst player on the pitch and in the second half looked quite lively including that inch perfect cross for Long to have the header that led to us opening the scoring, he wasn't great but he at least contributed something positive.

This defeat will tell Hasenhuttl a few things, firstly that some of the youngsters are not ready for the first team yet, Tyreke Johnson had some good moments, but mainly he looked rash and uncomfortable and was taken off at half time after a booking could easily have seen a second yellow leading to his dismissal.

Ramsey didn't look like he knew where he should be at any given time playing as a third defender, but in mitigation Stephens and Vestergaard were not helping him as they seemed to be unaware of the need to mark people in our penalty box or to tell him where he should be.

Sam Gallagher tried hard but too often he ran into corners and lost the ball, he missed several headers that he should have won and I won't go there with the overhead kick, however he was not alone and I do not think I have ever attended a professional football match where so many of our players mistimed headers jumping for them and completely missing what should be simple tasks for players of this standard.

There were plus points though, Ward Prowse, Romeu and Armstrong dominated the centre, Shane Long again worked tirelessly and was involved in the opener and Nathan Redmond looks a class act that could get a recall to the England squad if he keeps this up.

But it was the same old story of our central defenders, no matter who they are being unable to organise keep their concentration and quite bluntly mark players that cost us dearly.

If Ralph Hasenhuttl truly thinks that a defensive partnership completely within the club at the moment is viable going forward then I would be very surprised, I have nothing against Jack Stephens or Vestergaard but again they failed to do the basics, for much of the game they looked OK, but i'm sorry I'm sick of deja vu again and again where one of our defenders is left floundering and watching the man he should have been marking score a completely unchallenged goal from close range, if it stopped happening then I wouldn't be able to keep bringing it up like a broken record.

It was a disappointing night, but not the first we have ever had and it won't be the last, we now need to learn from last night and learn fast.

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