Southampton
2
Osvaldo 47'
Lambert 49'
Palace
0
St.Mary’s - 28th September, 2013
Referee : Atkinson
Attendance : 30,699
Match Report
I've not really got the time to do this properly these days. Sorry guys, but you will probably know what your own thoughts are on this anyway these days, being trained up as you have been over the last few years by LB & Shirley and lately by batts.
Mad Arthur : thought he was off and it was a penalty, it's a good job that North African is a bottle job! Otherwise he Looked Mostly untroubled and pretty safe when he was.
Clyne : honestly, as good as he was against Liverpool he was as average today. Was good enough defending more or less but didn't look himself, may be playing against Palace is not something he relishes?
Fonte : solid, looked a bit short of pace but otherwise very good again, he's getting stronger and stronger with Dejan.
Lovren : some good tackles today although did get turned a couple of times and it turns out he's not quite as quick as I thought he was when we got turned backwards by a couple of clever through ball by Palace, good job they're crap and couldn't capitalise. nevertheless, excellent game from him again.
Shaw : some good and some bad for me, mostly good but occasionally got himself in a mess and once let them go straight inside him from a throw in, that notwithstanding, still pretty good but I'm almost positive he is carrying a knock that hasn't gone away yet.
Big Victor : much better today than he was in the last game, still can't pass greater than 10 yards (mostly) but he shouldn't worry about that, you can still be a great footballer and know what your limits are. Anyway, he could learn passing better whilst still being brilliant at passing and distributing the ball for 10 yards or less. Mostly mighty
Schneiderlin : clever, nearly a lovely little lobbed header in the first half but otherwise was reasonably anonymous In the first 45 minutes. that's not saying much though, pretty much all our players were below their best in the first half. Started to come into it much more in the second half as Saints took over and the pressure was released from him as Crystal Palace came to us for a change.
Davis : I presume he was in there to add a little bite, he certainly doesn't add the finish that J Rod is missing, he missed a sitter himself. Passing was also wayward but he did have a subtle influence in the game and it was positive so I can't say it was the wrong choice at all.
Lallana : actually not as effective in this game as he has been, so of course gets left on the pitch for as long as I've ever seen in this season. Still lots of energy though but less opportunity and Didn't even really get the chance to fluff his lines with this one. Slightly disappointing but aagain, not the wrong choice for a starting place.
Osvaldo : in the first half he had a first touch like me, which is to say, crap. Saying that though, he did set up a lovely cross and it deserved better than it got in the first half. In the second half he came out and scored a goal and you cannot knock that as it was a very good goal and well taken. After that, unsurprisingly, His confidence built and until he got raked down the back of the leg and ankle he looked really up for it. he's obviously a confidence player and hopefully this will give him more as he definitely has the wow factor when he turns it on.
Lambert : not as aerially dominant as we have seen him in the past but much more mobile and I think he is definitely taking on board what pooch is asking of him, his runs were, as nearly always, intelligent but his movement was better than I've seen for a while. Great freekick as well. Just need something from open play now Ricardo and the boy he will be back.
Conclusion:
Do you know what? We could have been behind in the first half, there was some very intelligent running and playing on the counter from Palace, but they just don't seem to have the edge required to pull it off. Nevertheless, saying that, Saints didn't really look under pressure at any point during this game, three bad second-half minutes from Palace ended their challenge completely.
Holloway didn't really have anything on the bench to change anything for the better and we saw the game out comfortably despite the number of people whingeing about us not winning 63-0 and going on about how we would have been top of the league if we had won 4-0, some people should just get a life, Sad muppet bastards.
Still not really convincing me that we are going to be able to keep wins up when we start playing the more difficult games (Liverpool aside). However, there is something resilient and maybe even a tad lucky about the team this year and if we can turn the chances into goals, proper real goals from open play like the first one today, then you never know, maybe we'll will be in the champions league next year!
Crashhot
28th September, 2013
Saints
31 Boruc
02 Clyne
05 Lovren
06 Fonte
23 Shaw
04 Schneiderlin
08 S Davis Booked (Ward-Prowse - 67' )
12 Wanyama
17 Osvaldo
20 Lallana (Ramirez - 86' )
07 Lambert (Rodriguez - 77' )
Substitutes
01 K Davis
26 Hooiveld
10 Ramirez
16 Ward-Prowse
18 Cork
22 Chambers
09 Rodriguez
Palace
01 Speroni
02 Ward
03 Mariappa Booked
19 Gabbidon
21 Moxey
08 Dikgacoi
15 Jedinak
46 Bannan (Jerome - 57' )
16 Gayle (Thomas - 58' )
28 Kebe (Phillips - 73' )
29 Chamakh Booked
Substitutes
34 Price
04 Parr
06 Campana
12 O'Keefe
14 Thomas
09 Phillips
30 Jerome
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Match Stats
Possession
Saints 62%
Crystal Palace 38%
Shots
Saints 12
Crystal Palace 8
On Target
Saints 3
Crystal Palace 0
Corners
Saints 8
Crystal Palace 2
Fouls
Saints 11
Crystal Palace 12