Burnley FA Cup 4th Round Home Lost 0 – 1
Without Harwood-Bellis and Stephens, the cup tie against Burnley looked an ideal opportunity for Bella-Kotchap to progress from bench duties but Ivan went with a defensive unit of Welington, Bree, Bednarek, Walker-Peters and Manning in front of McCarthy. It’s never been clear how this works and, with the Kingsland stand shut, a rare elevated vantage point from elsewhere left me none the wiser. In the early minutes, Burnley had a chance to exploit the Premier League’s most generous defence, only Welington cleared from Benson – but how would Southampton’s less than prolific attack fare against the meanest back line in senior football in practically any country you care to mention? Here Ivan tried Sulemana and Dibling with Fernandes playing as a ‘false nine’; not surprisingly no joy there, although they might have benefitted from an error by Worrall, only for Manning and Dibling to see shots blocked. Dibling may not be fully fit, and he was the first attacking player to make way, replaced by Onuachu, who didn’t make much impact either as our approach play became more and more uncertain. Sulemana’s pace might have made a difference, even in the final stages, but Archer came on instead, while Smallbone and Grønbӕk were also given belated runs, at the expense of the unused Lallana. The best opportunity of the second half fell to Manning but he was denied by Hladký and by the time the late substitutions took place, Saints had gone behind. The game’s only goal came on 77 minutes and was a messy affair as the ball bounced around favourably for the visitors before Hannibal Mejbri found debutant Edwards who scored at the second attempt. No-one ever thought that the win at Ipswich represented a great leap forward, nevertheless to take what seemed to be a giant step backwards so soon afterwards was the latest disappointment in this dismal season: let’s not forget Burnley chose to dip into their Championship sized squad (including Nathan Redmond off the bench) and make eight starting changes from their last game.
Three LSSC Man of the Match candidates for you to choose from:
2. Kyle Walker-Peters. He continues to bring a rare element of Premier League class to our beleaguered team.
20. Kamaldeen Sulemana. Burnley’s defence would have presumed their job done when he was withdrawn.
34. Welington Santos. At least he was able to build on his performance at Ipswich.
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