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Saturday, November 8, 2008
Saints 0, Bristol City 1
For the TV game against Bristol City, Southampton tried to stay with the side that had finished in such style at Preston, but injuries to Schneiderlin and Gillett meant a place for Lallana while Wright-Phillips alongside Gobern and McGoldrick was one attacking option too many.
However, Saints continue to struggle to get the tactics right for home games and the most one-eyed fan would have to say that we were second best to City for most of the match. While Basso did not have to make a save worthy of the name, Davis enhanced his reputation this season with a first half penalty save and a well-time dash off the line to deny Noble, alongside other good stops.
The penalty was part of the learning curve for Pearce, who now knows that if you put your hand in the air when dealing with a cross, the ball is liable to hit it. The Bristol goal was overdue in terms of possession and the manner of it was not a surprise as Adebola, only in the side because John was declared unavailable, was the game's outstanding player. Had he gone down under Lancashire's push when running on to a long pass, Davis would have been facing a second penalty and with only 9 colleagues under his charge as captain. As it was Adebola stayed on his feet and crashed a shot against the bar; unfortunately Noble had the presence of mind to slip the rebound to a better placed player in Johnson and Saints were behind.
A logical substitution introduced Euell and he might have rounded off a neat move orchestrated by Lallana.
Maybe City had decided to sit on their lead or the total of 3 home substitutions were beginning to work: either way, Saints finished strongly, and a late McGoldrick shot rolled agonisingly wide. It does look like a more orthodox target man at home, with McGoldrick on the flank, may prove to be a better option than the strategy we started with in this game.
LSSC Man of the Match: Kelvin Davis, with too much to do, really.
Jan Poortvliet:
"I was disappointed because in the first half we lacked a little bit of quality and team spirit.
"It was not until we went 1-0 down that we showed our skill and what we are capable of.
"The players perform differently at home to when we play away and I think they are a little bit fearful."
Southampton: Davis, Cork, Wotton (Euell 60), Pearce, Lancashire, Thomson (Wright-Phillips 45), Lallana, Surman, Skacel, Gobern (Pekhart 73), McGoldrick.
Subs Not Used: Bialkowski, White.
Booked: Cork.
Bristol City: Basso, Orr, Fontaine, McCombe, Brian Wilson, Williams (Sproule 81), Elliott, Johnson, McIndoe, Noble (James Wilson 87), Adebola (Maynard 90).
Subs Not Used: Weale, Trundle.
Booked: Williams.
Goals: Johnson 52.
Att: 14,535
Ref: Andy Penn (W Midlands).
