Southampton show fight but go down to an Aleksandar Mitrović classy double.
The Saints’ trip to Craven cottage continued what is becoming an alarming trend for Mark Hughes’ men. Throughout the previous 12 match days the team has shown the ability to play good football for large periods, which is then undermined by spurts of shoddy defending or an inability to finish consistently.
Rather than proving to be the exception to the rule the match against Fulham doubled down on it with gut wrenching results. Despite taking the game to the hosts with, positive football, attacking intent and two fantastic goals, the same old demons persisted.
If willingness, desire, and effort, were the be all and end all of football then the 18th Place outfit would have come out worthy winners. Sadly, it’s the ability to take chances that is the ultimate difference maker, and it’s too the Cottagers’ credit that they excelled in that department.
What Taylor Swift once wrote of love you can just as easily apply to football. ‘Football is a roofless game unless you play it good and right‘.
Without further ado we examine the best in show and some that simply have to go, in this week’s player ratings.