Norwich Away Lost 2 – 1
Stephens returned to face Norwich, but injury forced Fellows out, replaced by Fraser. A bright start has been a feature of recent games and this was no exception as Scienza went down under a foul challenge just outside the box; Scienza took the free kick himself and slapped it against the bar with Kovačević beaten, then Downes was unable to get pace or direction on the rebound. Armstrong had what looked to be doubtful claims for a penalty turned down but TV replays suggest they were valid, and that may be a factor when the referee pointed to the spot for what seemed a dubious foul by Darling. TV actually showed that the challenge warranted a caution – instead Mr. Bell seemed to be occupying his time showing the card for a bad tackle in the build up, although doesn’t seem to be recorded anywhere. Kovačević dived early for the kick but Armstrong didn’t alter his plans and saw his shot saved. It was a crucial moment, although Saints could have forced more opportunities in a half when they were on top, largely through the threat of Scienza who wasn’t endearing himself to the locals as he ‘milked’ each foul for all it was worth. Norwich didn’t worry about any of that as they had the ball in the net soon after the restart, Makama touching in a low cross at the near post. Southampton’s first half form had deserted them and a first failure to score under present management looked possible until Manning tried his luck from well outside the box and was rewarded when Kovačević did a Bazunu impression when diving to his left. That didn’t do much to change the way the game was going so it wasn’t a surprise when Makama scored his second from inside the six yard box amid collective indecision at the back, notably by Wood; VAR would probably have ruled this one out for handball, but we don’t really want any more of that, do we? Tonda changed to a back four when he replaced Stephens with Robinson, but plan B needs a bit more work: we still attempted to play out from the back, but there were now fewer defenders available for a pass – you can have as many defenders as you like but they’re not going to score a goal unless they can get the ball. This failing was amplified in what should have been a tricky seven minutes added time for the home side, but it was largely spent in the Southampton half of the pitch.
Three LSSC Man of the Match candidates to choose from:
3. Ryan Manning with a fine goal. Not sure about the rest of his game, but options are scarce this week!
4. Flynn Downes, with some positive tackling until he picked up his customary caution late in the game.
13. Léo Scienza, who completed the full game, although not contributing so much as the match wore on.
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