Southampton: Elyounoussi plays duration as Norway beat Cyprus
By Chris Hughes
The Southampton winger played the full 90 minutes as his national side beat Cyprus in the UEFA Nations League this evening.
Elyounoussi won his 16th international cap with the appearance and was the only of three Saints players who featured for his side, as both Cedric Soares and Angus Gunn were unused substitutes with Portugal and the England Under-21’s side respectively.
Two goals from fellow Premier League player Stefan Johansen was enough for the home side to claim victory over the Cypriots, with the Fulham man scoring twice before half-time to put the game to bed early.
Johansen naturally plays more in the centre for the Cottagers but was deployed a right-midfielder by Lars Lagerback, and the majority of the play went down that very flank – 44% of it. However, Elyounoussi still managed three shots over the course of the 90 minutes, the second-most of any starter for the Norwegians.
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Despite only having a third of the action played down his left flank, Elyounoussi completed two dribbles over the course of the game and was fouled twice as well – despite the scoreline Norway weren’t as dominant on possession as you may imagine and therefore the Southampton man wouldn’t of had the ball as much as he may of liked.
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As a team Norway weren’t especially proficient when it came to passing so despite Moi averaging just a 79% completion that was pretty standard for him and his teammates – Man of the Match Johansen averaged just 74% whilst forward Bjorn Johnsen completed a rather sour 42.1%.
Nonetheless Norway’s performance was enough to get them their first win in this new UEFA Nations League, which replaces most standard friendlies over the international break with a view to making them more competitive and to avoid players prioritizing club football a lot of the time.
Southampton fans could see the winger in action again as soon as Sunday as his side will face Bulgaria in their second and final game of this international break.
The Bulgarians themselves also played tonight and won courtesy of a 2-1 victory over Slovenia that saw Bozhidar Kraev strike twice. For Southampton, both Stuart Armstrong and Jan Bednarek could in action for their respective national sides tomorrow.