This was more like the Southampton we have come to expect. After a miserable recent run, they returned to winning ways courtesy of a barnstorming performance against an off-colour Watford. Shane Long and Dusan Tadic struck in either half but the scoreline was not a fair reflection of their complete dominance.
It could easily have been five and Fraser Forster, between the home posts for the first time in 10 months after recovering from a knee injury, enjoyed such an undemanding return it was not until the 85th minute that he had to make a routine save.
Having won only once in the previous 10 games, the Southampton manager, Ronald Koeman, had conceded beforehand that he was peering down the table, concerned about being dragged into an unlikely relegation battle. There was an indubitable sense of relief at full-time but Koeman said he will still be looking over his shoulder. “We can look up but we also have to look under because it is close,” he said.
Southampton had been the better team in many of those recent games only for profligate finishing and defensive errors to prove costly. While they spurned several opportunities here, allowing tension to creep in before Tadic scored the second 17 minutes from time, their three centre-halves did not allow the Watfordstrikeforce of Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney a sniff.
“We know sometimes we need to be more clinical but I’m very pleased by the whole team performance,” Koeman said. “It was a high level against a strong opponent. After a lot of defeats maybe the team were a little nervous but we showed our quality from the start.”
As in previous games Southampton started promisingly but there was a crucial difference: they took the lead with their first clear opportunity. And what a move it was. Matt Targett, making his first league appearance since October at left wing-back, provided an exquisite cross for Long. The Republic of Ireland striker still had plenty of work to do, though, rising in front of Miguel Britos to direct a clinical header into the bottom right corner.
Four minutes later the advantage should have been doubled when Sadio Mané danced down the left, turned Sebastian Prödl inside out and back again before shooting goalwards from the ‘D’. Heurelho Gomes, however, got a firm hand to the shot and turned it round his left post for a corner. From the ensuing delivery the ball was recycled to Targett and his effort was deflected wide.
Watford were uncharacteristically slack, leaving the head coach, Quique Sánchez Flores, to admit “we were not competitive”. They should have been punished in the 36th minute when José Manuel Jurado played an astoundingly poor pass across the back towards Prödl. Mané was too quick for the Austria defender, stealing possession only for a low shot to beat the advancing Gomes but not the woodwork.
Gomes also had to race off his line to take the ball from Mané’s feet from a tight angle and the away team were quite fortunate not to be dead and buried by the interval, only still in the game thanks to their keeper.
“I am not angry, but disappointed,” said Flores. “We made it easy for Southampton. They were much better than us, and we played in a different way than usual. It was the first time our opponent has been much better than us.”
Mané’s duel with Gomes continued into the second half when they collided again while vying for a deflected Targett cross. Gomes came off worse, requiring several minutes’ attention to a head injury before being judged OK to continue. Mané got to the ball first but was denied by Prödl on the line.
Southampton’s dominance continued but they wasted several good chances to kill the game off. Oriol Romeu shot hard and low only for Gomes to save, a Virgil van Dijk pull-back from a Davis free-kick somehow evaded both a sliding Long and Mané, and the latter also shot wide after being teed up by Long.
Nerves were evidently seeping in around the ground but Mané was replaced after that miss and his replacement, Tadic, ensured the points with his first piece of action, composing himself just inside the area and giving Gomes no chance with a precise left-footed finish after Steven Davis’s headed pass.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário