Fulham Home Lost 1 – 2
Simon Rusk stuck with the formation that had gained a point at West Ham in selecting the team to face Fulham, but finally admitted that Onuachu wasn’t fit enough, so a first Premier League start for Stewart, presumably because there’s no-one else – and that’s one of the reasons we only have eleven points (it’s a long list!). Early play was all with the visitors but Saints sort of got a toehold in the game and even had the temerity to take the lead. This was from a free kick awarded for a foul on Manning and taken by Manning; a decent delivery that had Bednarek and Stephens going for the ball at the near post and it was Stephens‘ header that found the net. Sulemana usually makes the most of an opportunity to fall over, but here he stayed on his feet after a certainly robust challenge by Andersen as he got a shot away – every time you look at the replay, it looks dodgy, but no clear and obvious error by the official. Fulham had by far the most of the ball without really testing Ramsdale so on came Traoré and Lukić at the break and either their presence or a change in formation or (most likely) both had an alarming effect as Saints struggled to get any sort of possession – the management team of Rusk and Lallana were seen on the touchline trying to work out what could be done to turn the tide. They couldn’t find anything as Wilson hit the post while, somehow, Walker-Peters got forward for the hosts and forced a save from Leno. Still 1-0 as the game moved into its final quarter and Smith Rowe came on to up the ante staked by the visitors’ forwards. This move soon began to work out for them, and also seemed to force Southampton into a change of their own, bringing on Archer for Stewart. At the other end, Saints found the more direct threat of Smith Rowe difficult to handle and when he got free, luck favoured the attacker when his shot looped into the net as Bednarek tried to block. Most unexpectedly Saints then hit the woodwork from Archer’s attempted cross from an impossible angle to shoot from, but Southampton’s substitutions rarely have a positive effect as there isn’t the strength in depth in the squad and many wonder if it wouldn’t be better leaving things as they are. That didn’t happen as Dibling came on for Sulemana and finally Bree for Fernandes as Walker-Peters moved forward, I suspect in a move to win the game! Fans would have hoped for a point from the get-go anyway and Ramsdale saved brilliantly from Smith Rowe and Jiménez sent a poorly directed header at the keeper. Sure enough, though, things ended in near tears: Dibling seemed to be caught in possession and Traoré crossed for Sessegnon to somehow manage to guide a header into the only area that Ramsdale couldn’t cover – to be fair, TV showed that Dibling never really had the ball, but that doesn’t change the result.
Three LSSC Man of the Match candidates for you to choose from:
3. Ryan Manning. An assist puts him in the frame.
4. Flynn Dowes. Seems to have picked up his toys after throwing them out of the pram when a deadline move collapsed.
30. Aaron Ramsdale. Another game when his saves ultimately counted for nothing.’
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