A much depleted Southampton side succumbed to a two nil defeat at Leicester City, with goals from Messrs. Maddison and Barnes proving sufficient to get the Foxes over the line.
With both sides amongst this season’s high fliers, there was a lot of focus on this clash and despite the scoreline, it was a relatively even clash. In their defence, Southampton were missing several key players, including top goal scorer Danny Ings, midfield lynchpin Oriol Romeu and this years revelation, Jannik Vestergaard.
Youngster Will Smallbone was given the unenviable task of providing some attacking flair in the absence of Ings, Djenepo and Redmond but after a slow start, the 20 year old Irishman became increasingly influential. Unfortunately an injury prevented Smallbone from completing the game and with the squad decimated by the impact of injury and COVID, the majority of the replacements on the bench were academy graduates.
There was an element of controversy about the first Leicester goal, as referee Stuart Atwell missed a blatant foul on Diallo but there was no doubt about the quality of Maddison’s finish. The English midfielder rolled a weak challenge from Stephens and blasted a powerful shot past McCarthy at the near post.
The impressive Harvey Barnes wrapped things up in second half stoppage time with a cool finish. Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl revealed he was pleased with his side’s industry and dedication but admitted that he was concerned about the injury crisis at the club.
Here are three takeaways from the game: