Ahead of kick off you would have been hard pushed to find anyone who thought that Saints would get anything out of this game, at best most hoped for a valiant performance and a narrow(ish) defeat, how wrong would everyone be !

It was a sombre walk up to St Mary's and a quiet one, it was apparent that a large proportion of the Saints supporter base had not bothered for this one, I knew plenty of season ticket holders and regular away supporters who gave this one a miss, also there were plenty of tickets for sale on social media, again a lot of people had bought tickets but for one reason or another could not face going.

That meant that the demographic of the crowd was much changed from a normal League game, of the 22,996 attendance there were a lot more people who were either casual Saints supporters or even neutrals come to see Manchester City's superstars perform their repertoire.

This meant that the atmosphere in the ground was a lot less hostile than it has been of late, it was only the die hards left from a normal Premier League crowd and they seemed to be more willing to give Nathan Jones a chance than those who had stayed at home.

City didn't put out their full first choice team Haaland & De Bruyne amongst the substitutes, but then again nor did Saints, in came the likes of Ibrahima Diallo, Sekou Mara & Moussa Djenepo for rare starts.

The game soon settled into a familiar pattern, both for games against City and indeed most games of late, the visitors had plenty of possession, but you could sense that there was a spirit missing in the Saints team that has been missing for a while, whatever the reason the players now seemed to be fully bought into the system and knew what they were doing.

City as mentioned had the possession and had the tricks, but Saints were digging in and fighting for every ball and for that matter for themselves individually and as a team and the first chance of the game fell to them when Caleta-Car had a scuffed shot saved on 7 minutes.

As the game hit 20th minute I don't think many believed we would win this game, but they were hopeful that the clock was ticking down and reducing the chance of a heavy defeat.

But then on 23 minutes came something that wasn't in the script, Lyanco stormed down the wing, put in a peach of a cross and there was Sekou Mara to nip in front of the defender to sweep the ball home.

Suddenly the crowd were on their feet, but still most felt that this would just annoy City and make them up their game.

But 5 minutes later came the unthinkable, Saints doubled their lead, Djenepo got the ball took a few strides forward and then spotting the keeper off his line, hit a sublime chipped shot that curled over the head of the keeper and sent St Mary's wild.

Those that said there was an element of luck about our two goals at Palace on Saturday could not claim this on either of these two strikes, they were quality finishes and bode well for the rest of the season.

Suddenly Saints had a decent lead to defend, but there was still a long long way to go.

The game was a familiar pattern still, but there was an unfamiliar resilience about the Saints side, they were working as a team and every player was doing his job, this wasn't going to be pretty, but it was pleasing to watch, the fringe players stepped up to the plate, two great finishes from Mara & Djenepo and Diallo battled and fought for every ball.

When we lost the ball we worked hard to get it back, it was never about what we had just done, always about what we did next and that was fight for every ball and never give up, any drop in this intensity would let City back in the game.

At half time City made three changes, Kevin De Bruyne one of them, showing that Pep Guardiola was worried, 10 minutes after the break Haaland came on, Guardiola was really worried now.

Saints fans were worried when in the space of 5 minutes Saints had to make two enforced changes when firstly Djenepo and then Lavia came off around the hour mark, this was a blow, especially Lavia who was looking a class act against his former club, just after Adams came on for Mara to offer fresh legs up front.

City saw hope and shortly after on came Rhoddri, now City had almost a full first choice side out there and there was almost 30 minutes plus injury time to go, but still Saints stuck at it.

The good news though was that City for all their possession rarely looked like scoring, just about their only chance on target despite 72% possession, was a scuffed effort that Gavin Bazunu fell onto easily, so poor was the effort it was not even recorded in the stats.

But although the worry that City would pull a goal back and make it a nervy ending, it never happened, when Saints brought on new signing Orsic on 83 minutes the City players looked like they had accepted their fate, when the final whistle on 6 minutes of injury time went, City had never looked like pulling the deficit back and suddenly Saints are back in business.

It is hard to name a man of the match in this one, it was very much a team effort, it was about every player doing his job, not one man could afford to drop off his effort levels or sit back and watch the game, it was about working for yourself and for your team mates, plenty of impressive performances and many candidates.

So what can we gleam from this game, firstly that we do have a squad that is good enough to survive in the Premier League, add Orsic and newly announced signing before the game of Carlos Alcaras and we have strengthened.

But more importantly we have won a game and won well against top class opposition, we have done so with a team spirit that suggests that Nathan Jones could pull things around.

There is still a long way to go and obviously Saturday at Everton will be crucial, buy you don't beat City, a team that have won this competition 6 times out of the last 9 seasons , if you don't have a decent squad and for that matter a manager leading them who has some nous.

Nathan Jones has had a lot of flak, but he has shown in this game that he might have learned a few things from our defeats, he might have started to earn the respect of his players and he does at least deserve the chance to show that after an unimpressive start to his time at St Mary's he can recover from that and take us forward.

Photo: Action Images

IanRC added 11:15 - Jan 12 Fabulous performance by the whole team. Hopefully the so called supporters who try to stay on the backs of the like of JWP and Djenepo will give it a rest for a while. KWP didn’t look too unsettled about the recent gossip but I hope he signs a new contract soon. Not out of the woods by any stretch but much to build on starting at Everton. Just need to beat Newcastle and (presumably) MU and we will have a cup again. For those that scoff, apparently that is the first time any Pep team has lost a quarter final.

9

DorsetIan added 11:20 - Jan 12 It was one of Saints' best performances in a long time. Two great goals, always in the game and on the front foot, and never really sitting back and soaking up wave after wave of Man City pressure, as has been the case in the past. Nathan Jones is an idiosyncratic chap. His press conference comments in defence of himself have been pretty feisty and not the normal PR managed stuff that Premier League managers usually deliver. A lot of people - me included - have found it irritating. The on field performances were very poor against Brighton and Forest and it seemed like Jones was making excuses and playing the victim. Well fair play to him. He said he had a plan, that he did know what he was doing that it was disrespectful to write him off so quickly. And he's now won two games this week and we are still in two cups that I thought we'd be knocked out off, and we've got two new players already. He's proved he can manage a team to compete at this level. Couldn't have a bigger task. We'll see if he can do it consistently, but I think the fears that he is completely out of his depth have lessened a bit. Feeling positive about the next game for the first time in a long time!

18

highfield49 added 11:32 - Jan 12 Well, I think I might have got that wrong as I was certainly one of the doubters after the Forest defeat. It was like someone had flicked a switch and transformed underperforming players into genuine competitors at the top level. That has to be down to the coaches, and the reaction of the players to NJ at the end of the game dispelled doubts I had as to whether he had the backing of the dressing room. The rest of the season looks a lot brighter now, particularly with two quality players added to the squad and the prospect of more signings soon. Too early to count those chickens but on recent performance we are going to moving up the table sooner than later.

12

Block8 added 11:36 - Jan 12 Superb performance from the team, coaching staff and crowd, proud to be a Saint last night, although to be fair I always am. COYR
7

SaintPaulVW added 12:13 - Jan 12 Just Wow! 100% record in the cup. Whatever we are seeing if NJ as fans, it's clear the players are seeing something different behind the scenes. The work rate last night was phenomenal. As soon as an MC player had the ball they were surrounded by Saints players. NJ is clearly communicating what he wants to the players and building their confidence. The set up just worked as well. I've never seen Diallo be so focussed. Lavia being back unleashed JWP to be in a more forward position and he revelled in it. I can't mention it all but Arma taking 5 or 6 MC players on in the second half was jaw dropping. Bazunu taking control of his area. Lyanco's storming run. Djenepo's calm perfect chip. And Mara's clinical finish is what we have been begging to see! Still blown away. Just need 3 points against Everton now and things will be really moving forward. COYR

12

HythePeer added 12:25 - Jan 12 There was a different team out there last night! I have not seen such a transformation since Pochettino. This give me great hope for the future!
8

JoeEgg added 12:28 - Jan 12 As I've said many times football is an incredible game where fortunes can change dramatically and quickly. I agree 100% with DorsetIan's excellent response altough like him I was irritated by Nathan Jones post match Forest comments, but also more than happy to second Colburn's pleas to give the man a chance! My response was to say that what the team needed was GOALS. Goals scored change confidence levels and can often compensate for defensive lapses. The new faces should give us a real chance to get more goals and as we saw last night as a result our goal was seldom troubled and we kept a rare clean sheet. At last we appear to be moving in the right direction. We just need now to transfer our Cup form to the Premier League! Maybe we still have one more major transfer surprise to come - hopefully a goalscorer with a track record!

9

Bawdrip added 12:33 - Jan 12 Best quote from last night...'Football is a simple game. 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end the oil usually wins. But not always'. Oil being Saudi Arabian funded clubs in case you didn't get it. Can't believe last night's result. Such mixed emotions though as unable to be there after all the dross I've been down there for on a regular basis. Unable to go due to a very painful infected finger. Had bought my ticket and was definitely going till the pain set in after the morning's dog walk . What made it worse was having done the 5 hour round trip the week before for a match of just one shot on target! Love us to beat the other oil funded club in the semi final. A tough ask but possible.

4

underweststand added 12:42 - Jan 12 In defence of Nathan Jones, he inherited a squad devoid of ideas and confidence, but having given everyone a chance to show up he knows what each individual is capable of. Having to change the formation in a team that had been brain-washed into 4-2-2-2 for nearly 3 years has been hard, but 3 at the back looked good last night. Lyanco has gone from zero to hero in a week and I'm sure Grealish won't look forward to their next encounter in the Prem. and Caleta Car also looked calm and safe at the back. Certainly the best game we've played in a very long time, and when critics were ready to ditch the likes of Mara and Djenepo, they come up with those quality finishes. Let's hope they've found their way back to good form. Two upcoming Prem. games that we really want to win, and Three Cup games that could lead to greater glories. A good performance all round, and Bazunu will take some satisfaction in keeping a clean sheet against the club who ditched him just 6 months ago, and Walker-Peters showing why he's attracting so much attention from other clubs. Prowsey being ...." Prowsey " and popping up everywhere and running the midfield like a clock. A great performance.

7

davidargyll added 12:48 - Jan 12 What a performance! I didn’t go last night fearing the worst, but what a mistake that was! For Christ’s sake what brought that on? I would suggest some or all of the following: 1. Even though he will always be a risk-taker, Lyanco excelled at RB and his interception that led to the first goal was sheer poetry! And his reading of some of those crosses that came into the box was exceptional; 2. JWP playing much further forward and really getting amongst the City defence; back to his old self, I hope; a star is reborn… 3. Mara playing like a God; another star is born… 4. NO CHE ADAMS (until half way through H2 that is); 5. Adam Armstrong getting better and better; 6. Djneppo - a completely bonkers player who is mostly all over the place - scoring an absurdly brilliant goal. Re Che, let’s be honest, he is a bull of a man whose middle name will never be “finesse”; and about whom I think we have all been rather guilty of (over?)praising because we have - or rather had - nobody else. But Jones had the nouse to drop him after his recent load of terrible misses, and what a difference Sekou Mara made in his place. And while he was sitting on the bench he must have seen that, not only is SM real quality, but also maybe he (CA) is no longer the shoe-in for the starting lineup he thought he was. He tends to lumber around playing a very predictable - and old fashioned Championship-style(?) - game of backing into opposition players and trying to draw a foul with little success and more often than not subsequently losing the ball. I reckon he’s going to come under real pressure to up his game… Adam Armstrong on the other hand, no great goal scorer of course, but my God he doesn’t half harry the oppo, regularly drawing two, three and on one occasion last night as many as FIVE MC players to stop him. Top PL player he may never be but, like the Duracell Bunny, he never stops, such that he continually proves a real problem for any defence to play against. And a final word for the manager. MUNCH MUNCH MUNCH!. Yes the sound of me starting to eat my words about N Jones Esq.! I’m afraid it will take a lot for him to become a hero but for starters let’s see how he gets on on Saturday. And if he proves all us naysayers wrong and really does have that special something to be a successful PL manager, then I will be the first to applaud him.

9

andoverpedro added 13:15 - Jan 12 well done southampton , when i saw the young french lad up front i worried for him , but credit to him he has now got his goal and did press quite well up front , Armstrong also found his role of the press and played really well , we still need an experienced guy up front to lead the line as Che did look pedestrian when he came on but held the ball up well in the corner at the end . Well done to the mid field and the back 4/5 as they played out of their skins and got tough with City we will need many more games like this if we are to survive but its a start and Nathan deserves his nights sleep now before the Everton game . We need to be physical with everton on saturday just like they did to us earlier in the season . COYS

4

WestSussexSaint added 13:29 - Jan 12 I get the sense from Nathan Jones’ post match comments, including those from last night is that he reveals in the siege mentality approach. This is not unique as many had done this in the past but Jones seems to be an expert at fostering that mentality which then translates into the players. I believe that’s why we saw the performance we did last night. A few weeks of manager and players being criticised and the manager basically saying “let’s show them”. Well done to all for last night’s performance and I hope this kick starts a proper and sustained recovery. If so it will be interesting to see how NJ and his squad adapt when the siege mentality isn’t needed.

4

ItchenNorth added 13:53 - Jan 12 This is why it's called 'The Beautiful Game'! It was a quarter final of a cup. So forget the opposition. Forget previous form. You just have to go to these games, for those seemingly rare nights where it all comes together and you win against all the odds and better judgment, and boy, that was one of those nights. Love'd it.
3

Peterx added 15:01 - Jan 12 Hope Lavia was taken off as more of a precaution, bottom line is the team is much better with him in it regardless of who the Manager is.
4

halftimeorange added 16:38 - Jan 12 To say I was astonished at last night's performance is an understatement. The fact that we actually played as a team reminded me of the days when Ralph briefly guided us to the top of the EPL. This renaissance might be similarly short-lived but, I guess we wallow in the success while we can. There is no doubt that Lavia's presence made a lot of difference to JWP's game, the former playing through balls that nobody else at our club can do and the latter showing what he can achieve when the pressure on him in midfield is shared. I also wondered whether Lyanco might take up the holding midfielder role recently vacated by Romeu. It was a shame about his gaffe against Forest but, that might not have occurred if JWP had been freed up as he was last night. Caleta-Car had a sound game and it was good to see Bazunu look confident. Saints have to resist any moves for KWP and, if we are going to attack down the wings we still need that target man for Mara and perhaps Adam Armstrong to feed off. Hopefully, the management are working towards a resolution to that longstanding problem.

1

KriSaint added 20:04 - Jan 12 Good job NJ, good job Saints. I understand and accept decent critizism, but fook the "supporters" of this club who gets a hard on from critiZising everything about Saints, 24/7. They are not real supporters and I don't like these people. Saints 2 - 0 M. City :) -> bring on N'Castle in the semis.
3

davenbennett added 11:36 - Jan 13 Did anybody see what Grealish did to Djenepo to make him go off? It was off the ball. At the time, thought he was elbowed. Did anybody watching on TV see it? I assume if commentators did, would say 'coming together' rather than Grealish off the ball assault.
0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Watford Polls