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Can Saints get back to winning ways or is the season fizzling out?

Sorry been away for a few days, went to Madrid, not for semi though did see the juve fans before the game in the centre

sadly I think the season is fizzling out and the decision to play Gazaniga a poor one, we still have points to gain and for me a pointless exercise which will end up with us finishing 8th, if we beat Villa tomorrow would almost certainly finish 7th. Play Gazaniga at City if he must play him, he will get plenty of work there, put out strongest team against Villa and try to win.

cannot see us winning ever with Gazaniga in goal as he creates panic in everyone else. If he plays we lose

Well didn't really see this coming, results had Villa fans very confident of getting a result and saints fans worried. As it turns out Villas defence were just awful and couldn't cope with Manes pace or our passing. We should have taken the lead after 5 minutes when a ball knocked in from the right, Long was offside but made no attempt to play the ball and Pelle who was onside slotted past Given but wrongly ruled out. For once a poor decision that did not come back to haunt us as was not long before we took the lead, a long ball was knocked down by Pelle and Mane got through his shot was blocked by Given but beating the defender he knocked in the rebound. About a minute later it was 2, a poor back pass again gave Mane the chance and he scored his second. Then goal number 3 came just a couple of minutes later. saints won the ball back on the left hand side, Long ran into box but cleverly pulled the ball back for Mane just inside the box who opened his body to side foot into the top of the net. Fastest hat trick in premier league history and at under 3 minutes think will be a long time before that is beaten. Could have been 4 when Ward Prowse got through and could only shoot at Given. We did not have to wait long though for goal number 4. Again poor defending by Villa had Pelle through on goal, Given came out and just about blocked but ball went to right and Long unmarked scored from about 12 yards out. Just before half time goal number 5 came along, Long dispossessed Vlaar brought the ball forward about 10 yards then let fire from about 30 yards with given off his line ball swayed and dipped over his despairing dive into roof of net, best of the bunch.

Shame saints switched off for the Villa goal in last seconds of injury time, saints had a corner ball was cleared and a simple cross in and Benteke climbed well above Fonte to give Gazzaniga no chance.

Just wanted saints to start with some tempo in second half so Villa were not given any sniff of a come back and first 15 minutes was mostly saints, we won a few corners which caused panic, Toby had an attempt saved by Given from a long range free kick by Ward Prowse. Yoshida came on for Ward Prowse who had had a good game and nearly scored from a corner, well positioned at back post and directed a downward header but saved by Given. Clyne then had a chance on right side of box, could have hit first time but took a couple of touches to control but fired over. Villa were limited to getting the ball wide and simply knocking in crosses for Benteke, most crosses were no where near him so little real threat from them. saints got goal number 6 following good work by Mane who got free down the right and whipped in a cross and Pelle who had moved in front of Vlaar to volley home. A couple of months ago he would have been no where near or missed the ball but a well taken goal. Towards the end Villa had a couple of shots one, Gazzaniga blocked with his knees, the other he got down well to his right to keep out.

Cue final celebrations as the club did a lap of honour, at least no one was kissing the badge like Lovren last year. A great performance to round of a good season hopefully city will beat Swansea tomorrow to give us 7th position and you would not expect Villa to trouble arsenal in the cup final, though their one tactic of get the ball wide, cross for Benteke may work as arsenal cannot defend crosses but their defence was awful.

Gazzaniga 7 did okay not a great deal of work but punched a cross out for a corner and a couple of okay saves, no chance with the goal.
Clyne 7 a better game than previous ones but had little threat to deal with
Fonte 8 aside from the goal had a good physical battle with Benteke and a few good blocks
Toby 8 solid alongside Fonte and moved into midfield when Yoshida came on.
Bertrand 7 another solid game but like Clyne no real threat to deal with
Wanyama 8 picked up customary booking but bossed the middle of the park.
Davis 7 better game solid and tidy
Ward Prowse 7, some good passes and dead ball delivery
Long 8, 2 goals 2 assists and a much greater work rate
Pelle 8 only 1 goal but an assist and won a lot of high balls
Mane 10 fastest hat trick in premier league deserves a 10 plus he set up 4th and generally Villa couldn't get near him, plus he didn't dive today!

subs
Yoshida 7 look comfortable when on, winning key challenges and nearly scored
Durivic 6 didn't do much but game was already over
Elija 6 same as above.

Final point, BT Sport are amateurs! They had the game today but who at half time would do match side analysis with a cheap looking table put in front of the Northam end then bring out David James!!! Cue saints fans drowning out James with chants of where's your money gone, You skate ******, If you all hate Pompey clap your hands, really was quite funny, McManaman told him to go off and thought it was hilarious.

Thanks for that Matty and for the entire season. It's been a good one.

matty07uk wrote: cannot see us winning ever with Gazaniga in goal as he creates panic in everyone else. If he plays we lose

You were right there then Matty.......sorry, just pulling your leg.

Thanks for another top-rate report Matty. You must be the best sports reporter around. Let Pete and me know if you ever need a reference.


I pretty well agreed with your ratings, although I think I'd have given Gazaniga 8, and I'd have considered 9 for Long and Pelle.

Mike

was pleased to be proved wrong however you had to see how poor Villa were to put in perspective. I originally gave Gazzaniga a 6 which for me is he did the business but upped to 7 due to his 2 saves in second half but they were not spectacular saves one hit at him the other to his right which he stopped and then gathered the loose ball but no more than what any goalie really ought to be able to do. However I have to say would still be a worry for me if he was our no 1 goalie for 4 - 5 months. What needs to happen is he needs to be loaned out to a championship club to gain match experience, keep playing him for U21s will ruin his career. If you look at Butland at Stoke he is now challenging for first choice having had a couple of season in championship where he made some howlers but has learnt from them, Premiership is not the place to learn his trade and will destroy his confidence which is better than a year ago.

looking at tv highlights I would agree a 9 for Long because of his all round play in the 3rd goal, won the ball back deep in our half, good interplay then intelligence to look up and see Mane with good pass to set him up. Pelle maybe 8.5 as he did lead the line well and his aerial ability created the space for Long and Mane to attack them, probably the best display of the 3 all working together, though again before we get to carried away Villa were awful.