Southampton 1-0 West Bromwich Albion: Match recap
Southampton recorded a deserved three points in a rather uninspiring game against West Bromwich Albion at St. Mary’s.
Saints were on top for the entirety of the match with West Brom looking to get just one point from the game but Southampton had to wait until the 85th minute to take the lead thanks to arguably goal of the season from substitute Sofiane Boufal.
The first chance of the first half fell to Saints (as most chances did throughout the game) as Ryan Bertrand’s teasing free-kick was deflected onto the crossbar.
Shane Long had a decent chance to give Saints the lead and end his 26-game run without a goal but his effort from three yards went wide after Ben Foster did brilliantly to close down the angle.
Southampton enjoyed a lot of possession but it seemed to be the same story as backward passes and slow play frustrated fans once again and it didn’t look as if any of the players’ efforts would see the ball reach the back of the net!
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In the second half the frustration continued as West Brom, as they usually do, piled 11 players behind the ball and the visitors almost took the lead through none other than ex-Saints Jay Rodriguez who beat the offside trap to get into a one-on-one position, only to fire far wide.
Top scorer Manolo Gabbiadini had a quiet afternoon with very few chances falling his way but stayed on throughout the game and so Shane Long was the striker to make way for Charlie Austin who came onto the pitch alongside Sofiane Boufal with just ten minutes to go.
And then, THE moment. Just four minutes into being on the pitch, Boufal took the ball off of a West Brom midfielder deep into his own half and carried the ball all the way to the edge of West Brom’s 18-yard box, past a number of defenders, and curled his effort into the bottom corner to almost guarantee Southampton the three points with just five minutes to go.
The game needed a moment of magic from either side for it to be won and luckily enough it went on the home side. Neither side were too impressive and there are still problems, especially in terms of attack, for Saints but three points was the bare minimum and thankfully they’ve achieved the win!