Taking Southampton North!

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UEFA Europa League Group Stage - Game 5 - RSC Anderlecht (Home)


A draw will be good enough to assure us of qualification for the knockouts, due to our earlier win against Anderlecht, but a win would go much further, as it would put us in the driving seat to top the group. Nonetheless, it’s a rotated side, as we have a league game against Everton in 3 days time, and that’s the priority.

Luan’s 2nd minute cross was headed down by Milik, and Gitschier shot at goal, but was denied by a freak save!

Rodriguez slipped Luan through in the 10th minute, but he blasted into the side netting.

In the 37th minute Pjaca and Bertrand played a couple of one-twos, before the former teed up Clasie outside the box. His effort was destined for the top right corner, but was brilliantly saved. Fortunately Milik was on hand to tap home the rebound.

5 minutes later Pjaca and Bertrand combined again, and this time Bertrand put in a cross, which Milik headed against the bar!

In the 49th minute Gitschier played a masterful ball through for Pjaca, who was left with a simple finish, and duly converted.

Just a minute later the pair combined again in almost identical fashion for an almost identical goal! Great stuff!

Slattery and Chambers replaced Clasie and Luan in the 67th.

Reed replaced Gitschier and went to DM in the 70th.

A really good performance today, as Anderlecht never had a sniff. The Gitschier-Pjaca combination was really impressive, and may appear in the next match too! Braga lost, so we have won the group!


POM: Marko Pjaca (9.2, 2G, 0A)
 

English Premier League - Game 14 - Everton FC (Away)


Big league game against Everton today. They’re a side who can cause anyone problems, mostly due to the brilliance of Lukaku. It’s still a match I’m hopeful that we can come away from with 3 points though.

Sure enough, it was Lukaku’s brilliant pass that allowed Mayoral to square for Barkley, who slid a soft finish past Dragowski for a 2nd minute opener.

In the 5th minute Clasie gave the ball away and crossed for Mayoral, who was denied at point blank range by Dragowski, before Chambers deflected Lukaku’s followup wide.

Lukaku powered in a header from a 14th minute corner.

We changed to 4-4-2, but in the 16th minute his header from the edge of the box somehow beat Dragowski to make it 3! He had no right to be scoring a header from that far out, just ridiculous!

In the 18th minute Gitschier picked out the bottom right corner to give us a small glimmer of hope.

A minute later he should have had a second, as Ward-Prowse’s cross found him right in front, but Kim Seung-Gyu - remember him? - made a ridiculous save to deny him!

De Paul replaced Pjaca in the 50th.

Balic replaced Wanyama in the 52nd.

Ward-Prowse somehow failed to beat KSG from point blank in the 53rd minute, after De Paul picked him out brilliantly! Aargh!

Milik replaced Gitschier in the 55th.

Balic sent Kießling through in the 86th minute but he shot too early and KSG made the save once more.

Radu headed over from the corner.

We had enough chances to tie that game at the very least, whilst a sluggish start combined with some superhuman Lukaku play saw us 3-0 down in just 16 minutes. Just not good enough once again.


POM: Romelu Lukaku (9.0, 2G, 0A)
 

English Premier League - Game 15 - Manchester United (Home)


Massive game against Manchester United. Seems I’m saying that every game, but we keep losing them, so it becomes even more important to win the next one. Hopefully we can win here and stay within reach of the top 4, rather than the relegation zone!

De Paul blasted one past De Gea from the edge of the area to open the scoring in the 6th minute.

Bruma equalised in the 51st minute.

Gitschier and Wanyama replaced Kießling and Clasie in the 60th minute.

We shifted to 4-2-3-1 in the 71st.

Pjaca replaced Ward-Prowse in the 88th.

In the 89th minute De Paul sent in a corner, and Gitschier cracked an acrobatic volley into the net to retake the lead!

After being hurt time after time by both early and late goals, it’s about time we had them ourselves! We definitely deserved all three points today, and that’s what we got! Please, please, let this not be another false dawn!


POM: Rodrigo De Paul (9.0, 1G, 1A)
 

UEFA Europa League Group Stage - Game 6 - SC Braga (Away)


This match is a dead rubber, as regardless of the result, we will finish top of the group. As such, it’s a chance for some youngsters and fringe players to impress, and youth team centre back Jack Lovell is even handed a start.

In the 10th minute we cleared a corner but it was sent back in to an unmarked Juankar. Forster flung himself across the goal to tip his half-volley wide.

In the 21st minute De Paul’s corner was headed on at the near post by Lovell, and Upamecano’s header was saved. Seager pounced on the rebound though, netting his first goal for his boyhood club!

In the 26th minute Forster made a good save on Hassan, and Luan slid in to deflect his second effort wide.

In the 32nd minute Seager set De Paul free with an excellent pass, but his shot was poor and comfortably saved.

Slattery’s 59th minute pass to Gitschier was cut out and first timed upfield, where Rafa Silva was alone and waiting. He raced through on goal, but Forster was too good, making a brilliant save! The ball was still in play, and Scocco technically had an open net to shoot at, but it was a very sharp angle, and he hit the outside of the post and it went out for a goal kick.

Chambers replaced Luan in the 64th minute.

Two minutes later we were hit on the counter, but Forster made a flying save to deny Pedro Tiba!

Tadic replaced Rodriguez in the 68th minute.

Pjaca replaced De Paul in the 74th.

Two minutes later Pjaca teed up Gitschier, who hit the post from the edge of the box!

Tadic played Seager a brilliant pass in the 89th minute, but their keeper made a great save.

A solid win in the end. Forster made some great saves, but their keeper did too, and we just about shaded it. I’m pleased for the youngsters, who gave a good account of themselves. It was also a special match for Seager, who scored his first Southampton goal!


POM: Rafa Silva (SC Braga - 8.9, 0G, 0A)

Best Southampton Player: Dayot Upamecano (7.5, 0G, 1A)
 
You may be 10th but not many points off the 4th...an extended run could see you barge in! You have performed brilliantly in Europa though!
 
Nnicod55 said:
How Stevie's stats are looking? And keep it up good job!
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I remember looking at him when he got the Watford AM job, he wasn't too bad. I'll get a screenshot at some point

savan21 said:
You may be 10th but not many points off the 4th...an extended run could see you barge in! You have performed brilliantly in Europa though!
Click to expand...

The table is so tight, a couple of wins or losses could see us shoot right up or down the table. We have done well in Europe, the Europa League may even be our best chance of CL football next season
 

English Premier League - Game 16 - Chelsea FC (Away)


Stamford Bridge against the 3-time defending champions and league leaders. Yep, good luck.

A 5th minute Azpilicueta long throw found Matic at point blank range, but Dragowski flung himself in front of the shot.

Hazard skinned Luan in the 13th minute and raced around him, but Dragowski made a double save on the Belgian from a sharp angle.

In the 32nd minute a Cuadrado cross was diverted goalwards by Chambers, and Dragowski flung himself across to claw it off the line. Unfortunately Diego Costa was closest, and bundled home the loose ball. Silly interception attempt by Chambers, as the cross would have passed harmlessly by.

Radu picked up a knock in the 48th minute, so he was replaced by Upamecano.

A minute later Hazard’s long free kick found Azpilicueta, who hit the side netting.

Hazard raced around Luan in the 61st minute but hit the outside of the post.

Tadic was replaced by De Paul shortly afterwards.

Balic replaced Wanyama in the 66th.

Hazard hit the side netting in the 86th minute.

In the 87th minute Balic sent a brilliant pass through to Milik, who had just Courtois to beat…and hit it straight at him. ****.

Well we were somewhat unfortunate to lose there. Chelsea had more chances, but we dealt with most of them, and missed our golden opportunity late on. Their goal was very soft too, and we were worth a draw. Not a disastrous result in isolation, but considering all of our other poor results this season, it’s a shame to leave empty handed after a good effort.

POM: John Terry (Chelsea FC - 7.7, 0G, 0A)

Best Southampton Player: Luan (7.1, 0G, 0A)
 
Awesome detailed story Patrick been really enjoying reading when I should be working!

A narrow defeat to Chelsea is nothing to be shrugged at they dominate the game in my save. If only Milik had his shooting boots on!

Crossing my fingers for more Europa League success!
 
DerbyJack said:
Awesome detailed story Patrick been really enjoying reading when I should be working!

A narrow defeat to Chelsea is nothing to be shrugged at they dominate the game in my save. If only Milik had his shooting boots on!

Crossing my fingers for more Europa League success!
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Thanks mate, very glad you're enjoying it, just as I enjoy reading yours!

You're right about the Chelsea match, but considering how the rest of the season has gone it would have been nice to ****** a point there.

I'm hoping we can have a serious crack at the Europa League this season for sure!

Godfish93 said:
Congrats on the 100k views mate, richly deserved!
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Thanks for your support, and everybody else who has followed this :)
 
English Premier League - Game 17 - Leicester City (Away)

Leicester aren’t performing nearly as well this season as they have the last two, probably due to the loss of Mahrez to Man United. They’re still a dangerous team though, and we’ll have to play well to win today, particularly as it’s a somewhat rotated side. It’s the third of four games in a 10 day stretch.

In the 5th minute we worked an opening and Gitschier fed Kießling, but Huth’s diving intervention deflected his shot wide.

Castillejo then put Leicester in front with a volley from a low corner in the 9th minute.

Schmeichel made a great save from Kießling at his near post in the 35th minute.

In the 61st minute Kießling had a golden opportunity to put us in front, but missed the target from straight in front!

Clasie and Milik replaced Palombo and Kießling seconds later.

Finally in the 69th minute we had our breakthrough, Pjaca slotting home after Gitschier picked him out in the area!

Ward-Prowse replaced De Paul in the 72nd, and switched wings with Pjaca.

In the 91st minute Pjaca delivered a perfect cross to the back post, where Ward-Prowse had an open net - but picked out the keeper by trying to go back across! Aaargh!

How did we not win that match?? We thoroughly dominated but missed a hatful of chances, and ultimately paid for it by splitting the points. Man this season is frustrating!


POM: Moritz Gitschier (8.6, 0G, 1A)
 

If we get past Zenit, we will face either Dynamo Kyyiv or Fenerbahçe.

Transfer News...
A huge transfer is confirmed. Layvin Kurzawa will join for a club record 20m on January 1st. Arguably my first serious marquee signing since taking charge of the club. Strangely enough, even my best scout rates him lower than Augustinsson, but there's no doubt in my mind that the Frenchman is the superior player.
 

English Premier League - Game 18 - Watford FC (Home)


Time to end our poor form. Please. We need to start beating teams like Watford.

In the 16th minute Upamecano’s header was cleared off the line by Young, and Wanyama’s followup was saved by Rajkovic.

In the 44th minute Behrami hacked down Pjaca and received his second yellow card! Huge opportunity for us now.

In the 48th minute Tadic put in a cross for Milik, whose header crashed into the bar! He managed to get to the rebound first though, and it squirmed over the line!

Balic replaced Clasie in the 66th minute.

Palombo replaced Gitschier in the 73rd, and we went to a 4-1-4-1.

Ward-Prowse replaced Pjaca in the 78th.

Chambers was injured in the 82nd minute, and I opted to play with 10 men. Palombo went into CB in his stead.

In the 86th minute an Augustinsson cross found Ward-Prowse for a close range header to double our lead and make the game safe.

A solid win in the end, long overdue really. We thoroughly dominated from start to finish. Augustinsson, Tadic and Luan were the standout performers.


POM: Ludwig Augustinsson (9.0, 0G, 1A)
 
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