Match Reports
West Ham United Away Lost 3 – 0
Rumours that Yoshida missed the Bournemouth match because he’d gone home to become the new Emperor of Japan proved to be unfounded but he was still unavailable for the trip to West Ham, and we won’t be seeing Vestergaard again this season. Thus numbers led Ralph towards a back four but other changes were less […]
AFC Bournemouth Home Drew 3 – 3
Yoshida was missing but Valery returned and, contrary to some reports, Bertrand was fit enough for the other flank in the fourth and final 2018/19 edition of not-the-real-south-coast-derby, this time against Bournemouth. Saints took the lead after 12 minutes, and it was no surprise as the team had started so much on top, and it […]
Watford Away Drew 1 – 1
Still no Vestergaard in the team at Watford where Saints nevertheless started with a back five, and with Long preferred to Ings up front. Within eight seconds, that decision proved to be correct, with Watford kicking off for a second time with only three players having touched the ball, the key ones being Cathcart, whose […]
Newcastle Away Lost 3 – 1
Vestergaard has been suffering from injury off and on for a little while so it was no surprise to see him miss out at Newcastle: time will tell if this was just a precaution to make sure he’s fit for what is likely to be a physical encounter midweek. With Valery on sick leave, Stephens […]
Wolverhampton Home Won 3 – 1
After Chris Houghton said that his Brighton team had been well prepared to face Southampton only for the coach to change our regular formation, it can’t be a bad thing to keep the opposition guessing. I doubt whether Wolves expected to come up against Josh Sims and in the first couple of minutes they were […]
Liverpool Home Lost 1 – 3
Ings wasn’t allowed to face Liverpool; how unfortunate that the two fixtures against his owners should coincide with rare periods of fitness. That meant a recall for Long, while Vestergaard had recovered from injury to allow Ralph to revert to his three centre back line-up. The coach keeps saying that he prefers 4-4-2, but we […]
Brighton & Hove Albion Away Won 0 – 1
There was speculation that Lemina could return to the squad at Brighton but he was nowhere to be seen, and nor was Vestergaard – injured apparently. The Dane’s absence persuaded Ralph to start with an orthodox back four and for the first half at least the extra defender would have been unnecessary as both sides […]
Tottenham Hotspur Home Won 2 – 1
Southampton remained unchanged for the third successive game (a record for recent years?) but the first half performance at home to Spurs was nothing like the encouraging display last time out, at Old Trafford. Twice within the opening five minutes Kane missed two very presentable chances and by the time 23 minutes had elapsed the […]
Manchester United Away Lost 3 – 2
We always travel hopefully but always with an element of reality checking, sometimes more than others. A trip to Manchester United is one of those where you are aware that things could go badly wrong, and a torrid beginning suggested a difficult afternoon. Lukaku was the first to go close for United but Gunn got […]
Fulham Home Won 2 – 0
Ralph denied that the home game with Fulham was of ‘must win’ proportions,’ which is good PR because failure to win a ‘must winner’ indicates a hopeless situation. As it was, a Saints victory showed that it was at best a ‘must not lose’ game for Claudio Ranieri who duly departed these shores again. Given […]
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