Swansea City 0-1 Southampton: Three match takeaways

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SWANSEA, WALES – MAY 08: Wesley Hoedt of Southampton and Carlos Carvalhal, Manager of Swansea City clash during the Premier League match between Swansea City and Southampton at Liberty Stadium on May 8, 2018 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images) /

Hoedt deserves credit for his performance

Despite showing clear potential and starting well, Wesley Hoedt has struggled for consistent form this campaign – he’s made a lot of glaring errors and some of them have led directly to conceding.

However – despite one slip where it was eventually deemed that he was fouled – Hoedt had a consistent, impressive performance in Southampton colours. He deserves credit after receiving the criticism from the fanbase that he has over the past week or two.

On the defensive side of things Hoedt won more aerial duels than any other player on the pitch in nine, whilst also making a whopping 16 clearances. The Saints played the last 20 minutes or so in a different formation to what they had been used to for the past three of four games, meaning Hoedt and his partner Jack Stephens deserve praise for adjusting to an entirely different set-up.

Jordan Ayew had a solid game for the home side too and on another day could’ve added to his seven league goals – Hoedt did well to shut the Ghanaian forward down at every chance he had.