Southampton bowed out of the Carabao Cup after losing in penalties to Leicester City in yet another game shrouded in controversy.
Manager Mark Hughes believes his Saints were on the wrong side of VAR on Tuesday night, after Steven Davis’ goal was disallowed due to a Nathan Redmond handball. Ironically, it was Charlie Austin just over two weeks ago that pleaded for its implementation, and now it has come back to bite Southampton.
Redmond was running through traffic inside the Leicester penalty box, and the ball inadvertently popped up and hit his arm. The pace at which he was running made it impossible for him to deliberately control the ball in the path of Davis, and Hughes made it known in his post game interview that the slow motion replay of VAR likely made the case. In real time, it was very hard to decide, and ultimately was the difference in regular time.
What will get lost in the Southampton defeat was their ability to defend. Angus Gunn was rarely threatened, and the three centre-back formation of Stephens, Yoshida, and Vestergaard made some quality blocks. Wesley Hoedt found himself on the bench after Saturday’s poor performance, and fans are hoping Hughes was given enough evidence to try this trio again as the Saints host Manchester United this weekend.
Searching for positives to write about is becoming increasingly difficult with the run of results, but here are three key players from the Southampton side on Tuesday.