Southampton made it back-to-back 3-1 home wins as they comfortably defeated relegated Fulham on Saturday afternoon, here are our Saints player ratings from the game.
Starting XI
Alex McCarthy: 6/10
Apart from a simple catch from Fabio Carvalho’s tame shot early on, he wasn’t forced into any action in the first half. Dropped a catch late on in the first 45 but wasn’t punished. Could do nothing about Carvalho’s goal.
Kyle Walker-Peters: 6/10
Solid defensively, as usual, and on a rare foray forward, his inch-perfect cross found Nathan Tella to make it 2-0. Poor clearance nearly led to Fulham getting a goal back as Joe Bryan flashed a shot wide.
Jack Stephens: 6/10
Moved back into the middle in the absence of Jan Bednarek. Did well to deny Ivan Cavaleiro from breaking away after a Southampton corner with a strong tackle. Produced an exceptional tackle to deny the Portuguese forward again when he looked odds on to score following Bobby Reid’s pass. It was arguably his mistake for the Fulham goal, as he was drawn towards the ball before being left behind by the youngster.
Jannik Vestergaard: 6/10
Imperious in the air when called upon but rarely troubled from a defensive perspective. Provided some typically accurate diagonal balls and looked assured in possession.
Mohammed Salisu: 6/10
Pushed out to left-back with Stephens partnering Vestergaard in the middle. Solid in the air and gave Fulham very little change down their right-hand side.
Takumi Minamino: 6/10
Saw an early effort cleared off the line after being found by Che Adams. Showed good anticipation to win a free-kick on the edge of the box. Tidy in possession and looked much better going forwards, was replaced by Theo Walcott with around 15 minutes remaining.
Stuart Armstrong: 5/10
Won the free-kick for Southampton’s opening goal. Found Danny Ings through on goal with a lovely reverse ball. Wasted a good crossing opportunity early in the second half. Slow to get forward on a number of occasions and found himself caught in possession. A disappointing performance by his usual standards. Replaced by Ibrahima Diallo for the final 15 minutes.
[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-southampton-news%2c-transfer-rumours-and-more” title=“Latest Southampton news, transfer rumours and more!“]
James Ward-Prowse: 8/10
Whipped in a superb free-kick for the opening goal, finding Adams inside the area for a comfortable finish. Denied by Alphonse Areola from a free-kick on the edge of the box. Produced another fantastic delivery early in the second half but there was nobody there to meet it. The heartbeat of the team and so dangerous with his set-pieces, as per usual.
Nathan Redmond: 4/10
Took the greedy option when found by Ings shortly before the hour mark, as he saw an optimistic shot blocked when a cross would have been the better option. Hit straight at Areola when found through on goal by Adams. Far too many slack passes from the £16.2m-rated winger, which could have cost Southampton against more clinical opposition.
Che Adams: 7/10
Did well to read a backpass from Ola Aina and feed Minamino but his shot was tame. Opened the scoring by being in the right place at the right time to fire home when found by James Ward-Prowse’s free-kick. Very nearly found Ings with a clever through ball. Lovely through ball to find Redmond shortly before the hour mark. Drifted out of it in the second half but still another strong display from the Scotland international.
Danny Ings: 5/10
Had regular touches inside the box during the first half but couldn’t get a shot away, nearly latched onto a through ball from his Scottish strike partner but couldn’t quite get a touch on it. Rounded Areola after Armstrong’s pass but couldn’t get a shot away. Couldn’t get enough contact after meeting another excellent Ward-Prowse corner. Replaced by Nathan Tella shortly before the hour mark.
Subs
Nathan Tella: 8/10
Scored his first senior goal with what was likely his first touch after being found by a lovely cross from Kyle Walker-Peters. Also provided a lovely touch to assist Walcott for Southampton’s third and later tested Areola after some superb work out wide, in what was a really encouraging performance from the youngster.
Theo Walcott: 7/10
Another to score just moments after coming on as a neat passing move found him on the edge of the box and his deflected effort flew past Areola to make it 3-1.
Ibrahima Diallo: 6/10
Brought on to shore things up and did just that, broke forward well and found Adams with a good pass.
And, in other news… Southampton must swoop for 19 y/o wonderkid likened to Zlatan, he wouldn’t cost a penny