Taking Southampton North!

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English Premier League - Game 16 - Swansea City (Home)


Swansea are our guests today, as we look to get back on track in the league. They are dead last, but inconsistency has been killing us all season, and we really need to put a stop to it. Ramirez starts in a slightly rearranged attacking midfield trio, with Juanmi dropping to the bench.

Of course, in the 7th minute we fell behind as a long, looping cross from Ayew found Kalou for a header, which he buried.

In the 14th minute Tadic should have scored when Clasie chipped to him in the area, but he was denied once before firing the rebound off Williams and wide.

In the 18th minute Kießling played an excellent one two with Ramirez, and slid the ball under the keeper to finish the move and square the game! Great stuff from Ramirez to set him up, drawing and beating 3 players.

In the 35th minute we were handed a great opportunity as Ayew fouled Clasie in the area. Kießling had his second from the spot!

In the 40th minute a Ward-Prowse corner fell to Ramirez, who was denied by the man on the post, but Kießling was there to clean up the mess and seal his second hat trick in his last three outings! Great stuff from the German, just a shame he couldn’t do it last game.

In the 48th minute Kießling teed up Ward-Prowse, but his effort was well saved, and Tadic fired wide on the turn from the rebound.

Juanmi replaced Tadic in the 55th minute.

Some great football from Swansea two minutes later saw Sigurdsson make some space, but Dragowski made a top save look very easy.

Gitschier replaced Ward-Prowse in the 68th minute.

Van Dijk replaced Radu in the 73rd.

In the 82nd minute Ramirez was once again heavily involved, linking beautifully with Luan down the right and then sending the fullback through. Luan then swung in a back post cross to an unmarked Juanmi, who made no mistake.

In the 89th minute Luan played a one-two with Clasie and dribbled through a pair of defenders in the box before sending an effort agonisingly high.

Very comfortable win today, which was great to see. Luan continued his red hot form this season, as did Clasie, whilst Ramirez repaid my faith by laying on two goals. Kießling stole the show with his first half hat trick though, taking his season tally to double figures. We are 12th, but every team from 7th to 11th is just a single point in front of us.


POM: Stefan Kießling (9.5, 3G, 0A)
 

English Premier League - Game 17 - West Bromwich Albion (Home)


West Brom are our next opponents, and some rotation is enforced, as the match comes 3 days after the Swansea game, and 3 days before a clash with Arsenal.

It took less than two minutes for Kießling to open the scoring, finding space with a great run and calmly finishing from Juanmi’s pass.

Two minutes later the pair combined again, this time Kießling finding Juanmi, but the Spaniard’s shot curled inches wide of the far top corner.

In the 12th minute Fletcher split the defence with a great pass, and Paloschi finished comfortably to tie the game.

In the 14th minute Palombo lobbed a great ball forward for Cedric, who cut it back to him just inside the area, and the experienced midfielder arrowed the ball into the top corner to restore our lead! His first ever goal for us, and a classy one at that!

In the 38th minute Juanmi did well to chase down a clearance and swing it across to Cedric, who darted forward and floated a cross to the back post, where Kießling beat his man and volleyed home for his second!

Radu’s effort from a stoppage time corner was cleared off the line by Paloschi - apparently carrying West Brom at both ends of the pitch!

In the 51st minute Bertrand’s cross was poorly dealt with, and Kießling’s effort was kept out by a brilliant diving save from Foster, before Adriano got himself in the way of Zivkovic’s followup attempt.

In the 61st minute Paloschi found Brunt, who skipped inside Cedric and poked a finish past Dragowski, which trickled agonisingly onto the inside of the post and across the line.

Mane and Balic replaced Zivkovic and Davis in the 63rd minute.

Luan replaced Radu in the 72nd minute.

Mane showed some silky footwork to bamboozle two men in the 83rd minute, but Foster was down and across to tip his shot just wide.

In the 88th minute Balic passed to Kießling, who could probably have turned and shot, but instead played an unselfish first time pass to Ward-Prowse, who wrong-footed Foster with his first time finish.

Great performance for the most part, as we utterly dominated, though it was disappointing to concede two goals. Palombo, Cedric, Ward-Prowse and Kießling were the standout players today, with the goals and assists shared between them, minus an assist to Juanmi. It’s great to have a striker scoring - 8 in 4 now for Kießling, who takes his season tally to 12.


POM: Stefan Kießling (9.1, 2G, 1A)
 
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English Premier League - Game 18 - Arsenal (Away)


Tough match against Arsenal today. A win would be a huge boost in our push for a European place, and a strong lineup takes the field. Ramirez is rewarded for his great performance against Swansea with another start. Arsenal are loaded though, and it’s going to be a tough ask, especially if (when) Oxlade-Chamberlain comes off the bench and scores another hatful of goals against us.

It was another former Saint in Theo Walcott who almost opened the scoring for Arsenal in the 7th minute, dribbling across the top of the box and firing inches wide.

In the 17th minute Arsenal broke forward and Ozil lofted a ball through for Cazorla, but Radu managed to get himself in front of the shot and prevent Dragowski from being tested.

In the 49th minute Ward-Prowse swung in a corner, and Radu flicked it on with a header, and Dusan Tadic headed emphatically into the net from point blank range!

We immediately set up to kill the game.

In the 61st minute Juanmi replaced Ramirez, moving to the left, with Ward-Prowse shifting to the right and Tadic into the hole.

Palombo replaced Tadic in the 74th minute, dropping into DM.

Rodriguez replaced Kießling in the 81st minute.

Arsenal didn’t get a sniff, resorting to long shot after long shot!

Imperious performances from centre backs Fonte (7.6) and Radu (8.2) were the backbone of a sensational away victory at the Emirates! Oxlade-Chamberlain staying on the pine probably didn't hurt either! Our prospects are looking much brighter now, as we sit 8th, but just a point behind Man United in 5th, and 4 behind the Gunners in 4th.


POM: Hector Bellerin (Arsenal - 8.5, 0G, 0A)

Best Southampton Player: Stefan Radu (8.2, 0G, 1A)
 
Nice turnaround mate! Here hoping the run lasts a while longer yet!
 

English Premier League - Game 18 - Everton (Home)


Gitschier’s average rating this season is behind only Luan, Cedric and Clasie, and as such, I’m handing him a start today. We’ll see how he goes. Speaking of Cedric, he’s been brilliant, but is being kept out of the side by the even more brilliant Luan! Everton have a potent attack, spearheaded by Lukaku, and featuring Lavezzi, Mirallas and Barkley.

In the third minute Leigh Griffiths was played through, but Luan pulled off a sensational slide tackle to halt the move. Unfortunately, the ball then ricocheted off Fonte, back into Luan, and then sat in the open, gifting Lukaku an open goal. Such awful luck.

In the 10th minute some more bad luck saw Dragowski’s excellent intervention, to prevent Griffiths from having an open header from 3 yards off a Lavezzi cross, fall straight to Mirallas, who doubled Everton’s lead. Unbelievable! This time someone could be held slightly culpable - Augustinsson for losing Mirallas - but it was still very unlucky.

Would you believe it, the day of misfortune got even worse in the 36th minute. For reasons unknown, Leigh Griffiths attempted a cross to nobody from the right touchline, and only just inside our half. It flew like a rocket though, and caught Dragowski by surprise as it arrowed towards the goal, and the keeper could only parry it. Wouldn’t you know it, the only other player in sight was Lukaku. 3-0.


Not a single other player in the box. Poor keeping from Dragowski, but another stupid goal all around.

Two minutes later we showed we weren’t going down without a fight, Augustinsson playing a great one-two with Tadic before whipping in a low cross for Kießling to stab home.

Dragowski turned a Griffiths shot around the post in the 42nd.

In the 47th minute the Augustinsson-Kießling combination once again paid dividends with a similar goal to the first dragging us back to within a goal of the Blues.

In the 65th minute Mane and Juanmi replaced Gitschier and Tadic. Mane went to the right wing and moved Ward-Prowse infield.

In the 70th minute Everton were two in front once again as Mehmedi dribbled around Radu far too easily and slotted under Dragowski.

Palombo replaced Radu two minutes later.

Atrocious defending today, in a match we should have won. The first goal was very unlucky, but whilst the next two were also somewhat fortunate, they both - and the fourth goal - could all have been avoided so easily. Augustinsson had two assists but finished with a rating of 6.7, in a pretty strong indicator of our defensive performance. Kießling can’t stop scoring, which is something.


POM: Romelu Lukaku (Everton - 8.8, 2G, 0A)

Best Southampton Player: Stefan Kießling (8.7, 2G, 0A)
 

English Premier League - Game 20 - Middlesbrough (Away)


The first of the two matches is against Middlesbrough, and I’m hoping that a rotated lineup can get the job done. We will see. We play Chelsea in two days, so a number of regulars are rested.

Once again we were off to a poor start though, as in the 6th minute Faizulin sent a rocket into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. Ridiculously good finish from a seemingly innocuous position.

Kießling replaced Milik in the 49th minute.

Slattery replaced Balic in the 57th minute, with Davis moving forward.

Wisdom hit the post for Middlesbrough a minute later with a curling effort.

Two minutes later Nsue tapped in at the back post to double their lead.

Zivkovic replaced Ramirez a minute afterwards.

In the 67th minute Radu sent a lovely ball to the back post, and Zivkovic volleyed home emphatically!

In the 73rd Zivkovic skilfully skipped between two defenders and floated a cross in for Kießling, whose header crashed into the crossbar!

In the 83rd minute Nyland pulled off a great save to deny Mane from Zivkovic’s switched ball.

Forster made a brilliant double save in the 88th minute to keep us in with a slight chance.

With everyone thrown forwards and Jose Fonte on the sideline with a knock, Nsue broke through in the 93rd minute, but Forster made a great stop.

A really frustrating performance and result. We really need to stop dropping points against relegation contenders! How we expect to be able to cope with Chelsea in two days time is a mystery. Zivkovic was a bright spark off the bench, Forster played well, and Mane looked threatening throughout, but everyone else was poor. Milik failed to impress once again.


POM: Emilio Nsue (Middlesbrough - 9.0, 1G, 1A)

Best Southampton Player: Sadio Mane (7.6, 0G, 0A)
 

English Premier League - Game 21 - Chelsea (Home)


Tough ask to beat Chelsea today, who thrashed us 4-1 on opening day. We’re back to a stronger lineup, most of whom are well enough rested, which is something. Fonte’s injury means Luan steps inside to CB, and Cedric starts on the right. Two time defending champions Chelsea are playing catchup with Spurs right now, so will be keen to win today.

We were the better side for the first 20 minutes without really creating much, and in the 26th minute a Chelsea corner was cleared but pumped back in, and the ball fell to Costa, who would have scored but for the extraordinary reflexes of Dragowski, who got down and turned it wide.

3 minutes later Oscar blasted high and wide with nobody between him and the goal bar Dragowski.

In the 45th minute Ward-Prowse curled in a free kick, Van Dijk rose and glanced a header to the back post, where Luan made his run and volleyed home his first of the season! There could hardly be a more deserving scorer than this season’s Player of the Year elect, looking good in central defence as well as right back.

Ward-Prowse picked up a knock and was replaced by Zivkovic in the 53rd minute.

In the 66th minute Van Dijk once again prevailed on a set piece, slamming Zivkovic’s low corner first time into the net to double our advantage!

In the 75th minute Wanyama had a crack from just outside the area, and Courtois flung himself across to tip it just wide.

Seconds later, Palombo replaced Kießling and went to DM. Tadic moved to the left wing and Juanmi up top.

Dario Rodriguez replaced Tadic in the 78th.

In stoppage time Juanmi scorched the Chelsea defence and from a tight angle fired past Courtois. Unfortunately his shot hit the inside of the far post and stayed in play. It was cleared before Zivkovic could get to the rebound. Deserved a goal.

What a performance against the defending champions! We were the better side by far, as 55% possession and a 22-12 shot count would suggest, and although it took a pair of set pieces to get our goals, we thoroughly deserved our win. Goals from the indomitable central defence pairing of Van Dijk and Luan sealed it, whilst Bertrand, Wanyama, Juanmi, Tadic and Cedric all had good games too.


POM: Virgil Van Dijk (9.0, 1G, 1A)
 

Transfer News...


I’ve been eyeing this guy for a while, as he’s been on the transfer list all season. He’s a snip at just 5m, and I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do.

In order to accommodate De Paul, I needed to shed some deadwood, and so Ramirez departs on loan.

Cazares also leaves on loan. Difficult to see him getting many games at City though.

A young keeper for the future - he will join in July.
 

FA Cup - Third Round - Manchester City (Away)


We travel to Man City for our 3rd Round FA Cup match. The squad is rotated somewhat but I’ll still be hoping to win. De Paul is on the bench, so could make his debut at some point. City aren’t leaving much to chance here, naming an extremely strong lineup.

Volland opened the scoring in the 9th minute with a nice finish from De Bruyne’s pass.

Forster made a good stop at his near post to deny De Bruyne from Gaya’s 20th minute cut back.

Mane and De Paul replaced Juanmi and Gitschier in the 59th minute. Mane swapped wings with Rodriguez.

And it was Mane who turned on the jets to create our equaliser, burning two defenders and whipping in a cross which Kießling turned home with ease.

A minute later Kane was picked out in the box but Davis produced a vital block.

Kane turned provider in the 72nd minute, chasing Nasri’s long ball down and squaring for De Bruyne, but Forster made a great save.

In the 73rd minute Mangala hacked down Kießling and was shown a second yellow!

My pending substitution of Slattery for Davis went ahead seconds later.

Sadly we couldn’t make the numerical advantage count.

A good performance overall though, and we will now contest a replay at St. Mary’s. Cedric was once again outstanding.


POM: Cedric (8.1, 0G, 0A)
 

English Premier League - Game 22 - West Ham United (Home)


West Ham are a team we need to be beating to really push for a top 6 finish. They have some dangerous players though, and could ****** a win if we’re not careful.

Tadic found Kießling with a brilliant pass in the 9th minute, but unfortunately he couldn’t beat Adrian.

In the 40th minute Ward-Prowse swung a cross to Juanmi at the far post, who headed it back across goal to him, but Ward-Prowse hit the post!

The ball was cleared for a throw in, and Luan swung a cross in to Kießling, who brought it down well but was tackled. The ball sat loose though, and Ward-Prowse found the net this time!

In the 44th minute glorious one touch passing from Clasie, to Tadic, to Ward-Prowse, to Kießling allowed the striker to slam past Adrian for our second! A lovely zig-zag through the defence there.

In the 56th minute Tadic embarked on an extraordinary solo run before threading the ball through for Kießling, who had his second!

In the 60th minute Antonio burned past Augustinsson and sent in a perfect cross for Valencia to finish.

3 minutes later they scored again, this time Payet swinging a cross to Antonio, who finished.

Mane replaced Juanmi in the 66th minute.

In the 74th minute Ward-Prowse squared a free kick to Clasie, who threaded a perfect pass through the defence for Mane, who spun off his man and finished superbly. First goal of the season, and it’s great to see him finding some form after his long injury layoff.

In the 76th minute Luan’s cross was turned goalwards by Kießling, but somehow, despite multiple ricochet’s off defenders, managed to stay on the goal line, and was eventually cleared. Still have no idea how that stayed out.

Zivkovic and Palombo replaced Ward-Prowse and Wanyama in the 79th minute.

A shimmering attacking performance today, though our defensive lapse took some of the gloss off the victory. Yet more goals for Kießling today, who has been nothing short of a revelation. He, Ward-Prowse and Tadic all had match ratings of 9.0. Mane also impressed, but is unfortunately off to the African Cup of Nations for a month or so.


POM: James Ward-Prowse (9.0, 1G, 1A)
 
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