Being billed as the new Sadio Mané gives the 21-year-old Moussa Djenepo a lot to live up to, though in his brief appearances since his £15m move the Malian winger has proved he can score spectacular goals.
This was his first start in Southampton colours and he decorated it with a memorable solo strike deserving of all three points. The two sides had been cancelling each other out until, midway through the second half, a Blades mistake turned the ball over and with an elusive run Djenepo made the most of it, first holding off Ollie Norwood’s attempts to pull him back, then deftly turning Jack O’Connell to place a low shot beyond Dean Henderson.
The home side ended up with 10 men after Billy Sharp raised his studs to Stuart Armstrong, though they had a full complement on the pitch when Djenepo took them on and won. He had attempted to do something similar a few minutes earlier and is clearly not short of confidence; he could turn out to be one of summer’s best buys.
“I’d like to thank my physios for getting him fit,” said Ralph Hasenhüttl. “When Moussa gets the ball in those positions he’s unbelievably hard to catch.”
This was a game that needed a decisive touch of quality. That a lively first half ended goalless was largely due to the two keepers. Angus Gunn stuck out a leg to prevent David McGoldrick opening the scoring after 12 minutes. The striker should probably have done better, the attack coming directly from Che Adams striking an upright with a volley at the other end.
John Fleck headed over from close range and Cédric Soares missed a chance from the corner of the six-yard box before Adams brought Henderson into action for the first time, meeting a James Ward-Prowse cross with a firm downward header the goalkeeper sprang to tip away.
The two sides were proving evenly matched. McGoldrick was unable to turn in a Norwood free-kick unopposed at the far post before, at the end of the half, Sofiane Boufal found himself with only Henderson to beat and all the time he needed, but in attempting to place his shot ended up telegraphing his intention to the goalkeeper.
The home side thought they had broken the deadlock six minutes into the second half, only for VAR to cut celebrations short. John Egan had gone slightly too early in an attempt to reach a Norwood free-kick and though his contact with the ball was ineffective it was enough to rule out a tidy finish by Oli McBurnie behind him.
Once Djenepo’s goal had put the hosts behind, McGoldrick had the clearest opportunities to draw level, but again he was denied by Gunn’s legs before blazing his best chance over the bar.
