Southampton eased past Blackburn Rovers at St Mary's tonight in a match that they dominated from start to finish, extending their unbeaten run to 18 games in all competitions and climbing to fourth in the Championship.
Tonda Eckert was without Finn Azaz for the visit of Blackburn after he picked up a knock against Derby County on Saturday. That meant that Cameron Archer got a rare start ahead of both Léo Scienza and Sam Edozie out of the left side. Kuryu Matsuki replaced Azaz in the central attacking midfielder position.
Archer repaid the faith of the Head Coach when he slid a low cross inside the six-yard box for Cyle Larin to fire the Saints ahead in the 25th minute.
Ryan Manning made it two on the stroke of half-time when he followed in a Shea Charles pass to score with a deflected effort.
Kuryu missed a sitter in the 69th minute after good work by Cyle Larin.
Southampton became a little complacent late on, and Blackburn stung the palms of Daniel Peretz before crashing the follow-up against the crossbar.
With just a few minutes left of the match, Cameron Archer got his reward for a very good performance when he stroked the ball into the bottom corner following a typical Scienza dribble.
Southampton are now fourth in the Championship and just three points behind Ipswich in second place. With the Tractor Boys still to come to St Mary's, the fight for automatic promotion is very much on.
Southampton player ratings (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper and defenders
Goalkeeper - Daniel Peretz: 7/10 An easy night between the sticks for the Israeli stopper. This was his seventh clean sheet in sixteen league matches.
Right back - James Bree: 7/10 Bree was impressive in attacking and defensive transitions in the first half. Surprisingly withdrawn at half-time, but the full-back has played a lot of games recently.
Centre back - Taylor Harwood-Bellis: 6/10 A dominant first-half display. Moved out to right-back at the start of the second half and did okay.
Centre-back - Jack Stephens: 7/10 Jack Stephens had a comfortable night against a toothless Blackburn attack. Not fully tested, but did nothing wrong.
Left-back - Ryan Manning: 7/10 Rewarded for his efforts with a deflected goal to put Saints 2-0 up on the stroke of half-time. Not greatly troubled by Blackburn's wide players.
Midfielders
Centre midfield - Cameron Bragg: 7/10 Another mature performance from the Saints' young midfielder. Won the ball back frequently and kept possession smartly. An excellent display.
Centre midfield - Shea Charles: 7/10 Drove Southampton forward through midfield and grabbed an assist for Manning's goal.
Attackers
Right attacking midfield - Tom Fellows: 6/10 Still unable to find the net for the Saints since joining in the summer, and never looked like changing that statistic tonight.
Central Attacking midfield - Kuryu Matsuki: 7/10 Threaded a great through ball into Archer's pass to set up Larin's opener. Blazed over whehn it was easier to score, shortly before he was replaced by Léo Scienza with 20 minutes to go.
Left attacking midfield - Cameron Archer: 9/10 A surprise inclusion by Tonda Eckert with Léo Scienza rested and Sam Edozie overlooked. Threatened early on when his cross failed to pick out a Southampton player. Put a low cross on a plate for Cyle Larin to finish from close range. Continued to impress out wide but struggled through the middle until he capped a great night by scoring his goal.
Striker - Cyle Larin: 8/10 Cyle Larin held the ball up well and brought others into the game as Saints took control early. Fired his team ahead from close range in the 25th minute. A classic centre forward performance.
Substitutes:
Nathan Wood: 8/10
Léo Scienza: 8/10
Flynn Downes: 6/10
Welington: 6/10
Jay Robinson: N/A
Add us as a preferred source on Google