Saints 1, Stoke 0

Monday, October 23, 2006

It's probably fair to say that pre-season odds put Southampton in the top 6 and Stoke in midtable, but after three reversals, Saints were amongst the also-rans while our latest opponents arrived on the back of a couple of impressive wins. Those who are well aware of the perversity of the gods of football know that there could not have been a better time to play them, and so it proved. But the deities never promised an entertaining afternoon as well. Without Viafara, the obvious move would have been to ask Wright to make a nuisance of himself in midfield, but that was not the Burley way, and Saints struggled to cause any problems for a visiting defence that included Higginbotham. Stoke's attacking opportunities were equally limited, although they may have done better with a couple of free kick opportunities (should have left them to Higginbotham!). Our best first half effort had been a long distance shot from Idiakez which Simonsen turned over the bar, but the keeper was beaten after the interval by a fine curling low shot from Licka. And that was about it, apart from a worrying moment when Fuller (yes, that Fuller!) sprinted away from his covering man. So back to winning ways, but this was poor value for money.

Man of the Match: Claus Lundekvam. After our recent Dexter Blackstock experience, a goal for Fuller was highly expected (even if injury meant it wouldn't be from a Delap long throw), but Claus was dominant on an easy afternoon for defenders.

George Burley on matchwinner Mario Licka:
"He is always a threat with his midfield runs and I asked him at half-time to get further forward. We got him in the summer and he got injured in our final pre-season match. He has been out for two months but he is fit now and ready to prove what a good player he is. He is a player with terrific potential and hopefully scoring a goal like that will give him the confidence to express it."

Stoke boss Tony Pulis:

"It was a good performance but I am disappointed with the result. We had enough chances to get on the scoresheet and we have to start being more clinical in the final third. We took the game to them and they took a wonder save from Davies to stop us from scoring."