itsbeautifuloutside

For nine precious minutes it really looked as if Saints were going to get all three points. They had been playing well and the defence had dealt with everything Swansea could throw at them, including Nathan Dyer, who had come on as a substitute for Swansea in the 56th minute.

Then in a moment of madness Saints played the ball back from a forward position all the way back to Gazzaniga. Instead of booting it upfield he chose to pass it short to Yoshida who slipped before the ball got to him and in a flash Dyer was onto it and the ball was in the back of the net.

At the start of the game there were a few selection surprises. The first was 17 year old left back Luke Shaw, who became the youngest ever Premier League player for Saints. Jason Puncheon returned on the right and a most welcome sight was Jack Cork making his Premier League debut for Saints after his various injury dramas.

Right from the kick off it rapidly became clear that this was a huge improvement over recent performances. Not only was the team selection spot on, but the formation was working well. The whole team was playing with purpose, having apparently been taken away for a couple of days to The Four Seasons Hotel in Dogmersfield, to the West of Farnborough and just off the M3 (according to my source!), to try and get away from the constant attentions of the press.

Luke Shaw was playing well at left back and even though Swansea were clearly targeting Saints left flank, they were being dealt with by a combination of Shaw and other players coming across to help him. Although chances fell to Saints they failed to trouble the Swansea goalkeeper to any degree. At the other end Gazzaniga had to make one save from Ki Sung-Yeung, but was otherwise untroubled.

Halftime came and the general feeling amongst the fans was that this was a game that was there for the taking, although everyone was conscious of how many goals have been conceded so far this season.