Southampton’s stuttering start to the season is no more. After a less than convincing opening to life at St Mary’s Claude Puel has earned his first win at his fifth attempt and it was mostly thanks to Charlie Austin, who up until now has not been especially favoured by his new manager.
Indeed Austin, beset by injuries and struggling to nail down a regular place, has not found life on the south coast easy since moving in January, but his two goals in the opening 27 minutes – his first since scoring on debut against Manchester United nine months ago – ensured a straightforward night against a limited Sparta Prague.
At the end the only disappointment was that he could not use the remaining hour and a bit to complete his hat-trick, having also had a goal ruled out for offside, but on this evidence he will be given plenty more opportunities following such an accomplished outing. To improve matters further, Jay Rodriguez added a third in the second minute of injury time, tapping in after a one-two with Shane Long. It capped an important night for the club, who have made it their business not to take the Europa League lightly after years of hard work to reach this level.
That commitment could easily have been questioned if the result did not go to plan, though, especially after Puel made seven changes from the side that started at Arsenal last weekend, but really it was plain sailing from the outset.
“To win 3-0 was very important,” Puel said, but he has vowed to continue rotating heavily. “I think we cannot just think of 11 players. We have got to play every three days in September, October, November. I think a good squad and a good team is many players.
“It’s important to keep an identity in our play and change the players. This is very important for all the players and it’s not important for me what players start in the game.”
In comparison Sparta, knocked out by Villarreal in the quarter-finals last season, lined up with only three different faces from their most recent fixture but they were the ones that looked disjointed.
It was evident from the outset that the visitors sought to frustrate by deploying three centre-halves, but that approach did not last long as Costa’s handball from Austin’s cross provided the striker with a chance to ease early nerves. There was some delay before the penalty was awarded, with the referee, Manuel Gräfe, initially waving for play to continue. One of his assistants brought the matter to the German’s attention, though, and he eventually pointed to the spot.
Costa had certainly struck the ball with his left arm when sliding in to block but had precious little time to react and there was definitely no intention. Considering the debatable nature of the late penalty conceded to Arsenal on Saturday, it was a welcome change of fortune for Southampton.
Austin needed to do some work to convince Dusan Tadic he was to take the kick, though, and Virgil van Dijk was required to push the irritated Serb away. It was soon forgotten about and Tadic made sure to congratulate his team-mate after a low powerful drive past Tomas Koubek. “It’s an anecdote,” Puel said of the incident, though Austin was more bullish, saying‚“it was a bit silly but I think I’ll be taking them in future.”
If Southampton faced criticism for the absence of a finishing touch in recent games, they certainly seemed to have learned their lesson. Austin made it 2-0 in the 27th minute with a strong header following a delightful cross from Cuco Martina, who lofted the ball with the outside of his right foot.
Sparta introduced the veteran Czech international striker David Lafata at the break but Southampton remained comfortable. Tadic was denied by a solid Koubek save after a neat exchange with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the 52nd minute and the best the visitors could muster was a fiery mid-range effort from Lafata that Fraser Forster got a strong hand behind to force away. Rodriguez, a substitute, got in on the act in the final seconds.
