The Gabonese International was handed his Southampton debut against West Ham and showed some promise.
First Half
Starting alongside Oriol Romeu in holding midfield, anticipation was high for Southampton’s record signing.
Lemina had a mixed first five minutes, misplacing his first two passes. Then stopping threats by opposing players Marko Arnautovic and Michail Antonio respectively.
Later, Lemina accidently caught Arnautovic with an elbow after duelling with the Austrian. Play carried on, and a 50/50 challenge with Irons captain Mark Noble was contested. Lemina coming off worse but able to walk away.
With the game approaching half time, there was no goal involvement from Lemina. Saints were 2-1 up thanks to a Manolo Gabbiadini strike and Dusan Tadic from 12 yards. West Ham’s Javier Hernandez with a clinical finish. Arnautovic sent off for an elbow on Jack Stephens.
Second Half
The second half was a short one for Lemina, being subbed off in the 64th minute for fellow midfielder James Ward-Prowse.
One audacious long ball and a successful aerial duel being his last features in the game. The latter, accidentally creating a chance for Hernandez, a volley which flew past the post of the Southampton goal.
Later it finished 3-2 to the Saints, with Hernandez poaching a second to make it 2-2. Followed by late drama which saw Saints substitute Charlie Austin put away the second penalty of the game in added time.
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Assessment
There were some positives to take from Lemina’s performance. He allowed players such as Steven Davis and Cedric more freedom to create. Causing many problems for the opposition defence.
Davis was able to drop to try drag defenders out of place. Therefore creating space for Gabbiadini, Tadic and Nathan Redmond to cause damage.
Cedric was also playing like a wide midfielder at times. Pushing up when Lemina dropped in behind. This was highlighted when the Gabonese started a move that eventually landed at Cedric, but was unfortunately blazed wide.
So to conclude. Given more playing time, the former Juve man could become quite the star man in the middle. However only time will tell, but there’s not much dealt Lemina will eventually shine.