Swansea City 0-0 Saints
Adam Lallana challenges Swansea keeper Michel Vorm at the Liberty Stadium. Apparently this was a foul.
The blossoming partnership between Lambert and Rodriguez was restored at Swansea, but neither player was on the pitch at the final whistle. It was a game when two teams with similar styles cancelled themselves out, and amongst the forward players, only our old friend Nathan Dyer enjoyed any real success in the afternoon.
The Swans might have been expecting a hatful of goals after an energetic opening when Southampton struggled to have a kick of the ball at all, never might get it to Rickie and Jay-Rod. However, as pointed out by one of our brethren (thank you, Neil), it turned out to be “a half of two halves,” with Saints clawing their way back into the game and ending up on top.
They might have turned around in front, but Vorm kept out a Lambert free kick at the expense of a corner; that second set piece was never properly cleared until Lallana put the ball in the net after Vorm had dropped it at his feet. Unfortunately the referee’s assistant was flagging for an offence by the Saints skipper in his challenge: whether a raised arm made contact with the ball is debateable, but it may have been enough to have constituted a personal foul anyway.
Routledge joined Dyer as a second wide man for the home side in the second period and Dyer had their best chance after some sloppy defending, but Boruc took control of the situation. Opportunities were proving few at the other end and Sr. Pochettino gave us Ramirez and Mayuka as his finishing strikers: Mayuka might have made quite a name for himself, but Vorm got down at the near post to save his late effort after good work by Davis.
LSSC Man of the Match: Danny Fox, which might seem odd, given the early pressure he found himself under. This was probably a ploy to try to exploit a perceived weakness on the left of the Saints defence, but our man proved the tacticians wrong. Clyne and Davis also enjoyed votes from those of our members who didn’t risk the wrath of the Great Western Railway and took the booked train home.
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