FULL TIME: Southampton 1-1 Hapoel Be'er Sheva
And that’s that. What drama! And a heartbreaking end to Southampton’s Europa League campaign. They came so close - Yoshida was inches away from an unlikely winner - but they end Group K in third spot, pipped by Hapoel, who have the same number of points but win the head-to-head thanks to tonight’s away goal. If they’d gone for it all evening like they did in those dying moments, their dreams might still be alive. But it’s not to be. Their failure to make it to the knockout stage puts them in illustrious company - three-time European Cup winners Internazionale couldn’t get there either - but that won’t make them feel any better right now.
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90 min +3: Oh my word! Ward-Prowse finds a yard down the right and curls one onto the head of Yoshida, who heads inches past the left-hand post from six yards with the keeper rooted to the spot!
GOAL! Southampton 1-1 Hapoel Be'er Sheva (van Dijk 90+1)
Well, well, well, you never know! Redmond chips a ball in from the left. Ward-Prowse goes up. The ball clanks to van Dijk, on the penalty spot. He swings a peg at it. The ball deflects into the bottom right, past the wrong-footed Goresh. There’s still two minutes left!
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90 min: There will be three added minutes. Anyone for a miracle?
89 min: Saints need something special now. They nearly get it as Tadic twists and turns down the left, earning enough space to dig out a cross. Yoshida rises to head goalwards from close range, but there’s no power in his effort and it’s straight at Goresh.
88 min: Ward-Prowse whips one in from the right. Yoshida and Long both go up for the ball, six yards out, but Vitor wins the three-way battle and clears his lines.
87 min: Redmond fires low and hard into the Hapoel box from the left wing. It nearly finds the feet of Yoshida, who has been thrown up front as an emergency striker.
85 min: Davis, on the left-hand corner of the Hapoel box, lines up a shot. But it’s easily blocked, and the visitors spring upfield. But they know the clock is their very best friend right now, and opt to check back and pass it around the middle awhile. Cries of frustration ring around St Mary’s.
83 min: The last roll of the dice for Southampton, as Hojbjerg is replaced by Ward-Prowse.
81 min: Goresh is booked for timewasting. You can’t really blame him, I guess. Saints are in all sorts of trouble here.
GOAL! Southampton 0-1 Hapoel Be'er Sheva (Buzaglo 79)
Disaster for Saints! Romeu gives the ball away 30 yards from goal, out on the Hapoel left. Shabtai picks it up and rolls a pass across the front of the box, left to right. Buzaglo races in from the wing and, on the right-hand edge of the D, fires a low shot into the bottom left! Forster had no chance, even at full stretch! And now Saints need two goals at least: they have to win this game if they’re to progress. A score draw would see the visitors through on the head-to-head, an away goal in their pocket.
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77 min: Hapoel coach Barak Bakhar gets involved in a ludicrous row with Redmond near the dugouts. “Shut up! Shut up!” he orders the Saints man. Redmond gives him a friendly calm-down tap on the shoulder, a passive-aggressive masterclass. Bakhar calms down enough to replace Korhut with Shabtai.
75 min: Yoshida is put into trouble by a loose backwards header from Hojbjerg. He just about gets the ball back to Forster under intense pressure from Maranhao. The keeper slightly shanks his clearance, with Maranhao continuing his press. Saints get away with it. These are tense times on the south coast.
73 min: Cedric and Tadic combine down the right. The latter swings a cross into the area. Or is it a shot? Probably a cross, but there’s nobody near it, and the ball bounces harmlessly through to Goresh.
72 min: It gets scrappy. Nerves playing a part, no doubt.
70 min: Now it’s Maranhao’s turn to waft a lame header wide left of goal. He’s on the end of a deep Radi cross from the right. He should have done better from the left-hand corner of the six-yard box. A timely reminder to Saints that one goal could do for their European hopes. They’d need two if Hapoel manage one.
68 min: Before the set piece can be taken, Hapoel make a switch up front: Maranhao for Sahar. Then the corner, which finds van Dijk’s nut six yards out. He simply has to score, but under a little pressure from Goresh, eyebrows a weak effort wide left of the target.
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67 min: Redmond makes off down the left again. He’s got Bitton on toast. But his low cross is aimless and easily hacked clear. But Saints soon come back at Hapoel, Davis looking to shoot from the left-hand edge of the D. It’s deflected out for a corner on the right.
65 min: Redmond flies down the left wing at great speed. He shows the ball to Bitton, and zips past him. He then shows it to Vitor ... and runs it out of play. A heavy touch. Without that, he’d have been free in the area, albeit facing a tight angle. The crowd groan accordingly.
63 min: Tadic is immediately into the action, taking the ball into the Hapoel area from the right and looking to curl one into the top left. It’s blocked pretty much at source, but it looks as though the substitute has injected some extra energy into Southampton’s play. That run seems to have perked them up. Passes are suddenly fizzing around at a higher pace.
61 min: Tzedek is booked for a very clumsy tackle on Long. It wasn’t malicious, just the actions of a galoot, his legs wrapped around the striker from behind. Not sure what he was trying to achieve there.
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59 min: The young hopeful Sims is replaced by Tadic, making his first appearance since being kicked in the face while playing for Serbia against Wales.
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58 min: Radi rolls around a lot after a 50-50 with Romeu. The referee sees nothing wrong with it, so Saints play on. The away fans don’t like it one bit, but this is how everyone else is rolling. The ball finds Hojbjerg on the left. He tries another one of his special long-range shots. He really should stop trying his special long-range shots. That one’s away to the Solent too.
56 min: Hapoel call in Hoban, and send on Ghadir. A midfielder for a striker. The visitors are desperate for the goal that would send them through.
55 min: Bertrand finds a yard or two down the left, and screeches a stunning low cross towards the near post. Long should get there first and flick home, but Vitor is ahead of him and bundles out for a corner. That set piece, coming in from the left, finds Long on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. He hesitates instead of shooting, and must settle for another corner. But this one is a total waste of time.
53 min: A free kick for Saints out on the right. Davis floats it into the area. The delivery’s not ideal, but the ball somehow squirms its way through to van Dijk, who very nearly gets a snapshot away from six yards. But Tzedek is on hand to hoof it off his toe, and out for a corner on the right. The set piece ends up at the feet of Hojbjerg, 25 yards from goal. The ball is now halfway to the Isle of Wight.
51 min: Hoban has a dig, 20 yards from goal down the inside-right channel. His shot deflects into the path of Sahar, who momentarily has the freedom in the box to fire at goal. But he’s closed down very quickly by Yoshida, and the eventual shot harmlessly drifts into Forster’s arms.
49 min: Cedric tears down the right, chasing after a pass from Long. He’s in space, and has time to cross, but his delivery, with four red-and-white shirts in the middle, is poor. Ogu hooks clear. St Mary’s is a quiet place, tension the top note.
47 min: Bertrand picks up a yellow card for clattering into Buzaglo while attempting to clean up the mess left by a stray Hojbjerg pass. It’s all in the centre circle, so otherwise no drama.
We go again! Saints get the second half underway. No changes. Sims busies himself down the right, as he so often does, and curls a soft, low ball through the Hapoel area. Davis, with his back to goal on the edge of the six-yard box, can’t bring the cross under control. Nearly.
Half-time reading:
HALF TIME: Southampton 0-0 Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Long powers down the middle of the park, and is flipped into the air by an illegal sliding tackle from Vitor. It earns the Hapoel defender a yellow card. Redmond slaps a weak free kick straight at Goresh from 25 yards. And that’s your lot for the first 45. As things stand, Saints will be in the draw for the knockout stage of the Europa League alongside Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United. But they’re not at their fluent best, so it’ll be a tense second half. Remember: if it’s a score draw, Hapoel go through instead.
44 min: Sims finds a yard or two down the right, and hoicks a cross towards the far post. Redmond rises on the left-hand edge of the six-yard box, but can only plant his header into the crowd to the left of the goal.
42 min: Romeu steals the ball from Nwakaeme in the midfield, and bursts down the right wing with the visitors light at the back. Ogu yanks him back, taking a booking for the team.
39 min: Austin trudges down the tunnel with a pained expression on his face. That looked really sore, though one suspects Austin is mainly unhappy because he wanted to battle on. God speed. He’s replaced by Shane Long.
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38 min: It’s a problem with Austin’s shoulder. Is it dislocated? He’s doing a lot of screaming as the physio works his arm this way and that. Is the doc looking to pop it back into the socket? Austin’s shouting “I’m all right! It’ll be all right!” but it doesn’t look as though he’s going to be allowed to continue.
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36 min: Redmond looks for the top-right corner from the edge of the box. Goresh batters a fine effort away at full stretch, a save to match the shot in quality. From the resulting corner, nothing happens. But Austin has landed awkwardly, and looks in a lot of pain.
34 min: Austin and Bitton rise for a high ball in the midfield. Bitton - not for the first time this evening - goes down in a very theatrical style. He’s claiming an elbow to the face. There was a light brush, but nothing intentional, and certainly nothing that looked like a painful crump. The crowd give him pelters when he gets up, perhaps remembering the swan dive he performed early doors when tapped on the ankle by Redmond.
32 min: Hapoel are beginning to get into this game. Sahar threatens to break past Cedric down the inside-left channel, but the defender is able to shepherd the ball out of play for a goal kick. The noise levels are significantly down, as the tension rises. It’s not a classic match by any stretch of the imagination, but you can’t take your eyes off it either.
29 min: Yoshida gives Romeu a hospital pass just in front of the Saints area. Romeu somehow manages to retain possession and help his team clear their lines, but the crowd took a huge suck of air there. A measure of how tight things are tonight: Saints are going through as things stand, but should Hapoel get one, the hosts will need to score at least twice, and win the game.
26 min: Hapoel balls up a free kick in Saints territory, allowing Redmond to tear up the other end on the break. He zips all the way down the inside-right channel, though Korhut holds him up and forces him a little wider. Redmond dinks a cross to the near post, but it’s too high for Romeu, and skims off the top of his noggin. That was exceptional defending by Korhut, who was the only man back.
24 min: St Mary’s erupts in glee! It’s a penalty! Er, no it’s not, it’s offside. A collective, 30,000-strong sigh. Redmond had gone up to meet Cedric’s right-wing cross, but Austin, getting involved after faffing around in front of goal, is caught well offside. Which is what the referee was pointing for.
22 min: A long, aimless ball hoofed upfield by Saints. Sims very nearly makes something out of nothing. He’s this close to stealing the ball off Bitton’s toe, but the Hapoel defender recovers his poise and blooters clear.
20 min: A deep Hoban cross from the Hapoel left wing finds its way to Buzaglo, coming in from the right. Saints are light at the back, with only van Dijk anywhere near. The defender can’t stop Buzaglo creaming a shot goalwards, but it’s high and wild. Was it tipped over the bar by Forster? Possibly, though Hapoel aren’t getting the corner.
18 min: The back of Southampton’s kit is all red. I keep expecting someone to turn round, revealing the legend DRAPER TOOLS across an all-red front. It’s Glenn Cockerill, and we’re still at the Dell. (Nothing much is happening right now, in other words.)
16 min: Hojbjerg has a dig from distance. It’s charged down. Romeu takes up possession and curls a ball wide right for Cedric, who fizzes a cross to the near post, where Sims half connects with a header and Davis, between him and the goal, misses the chance to flick on and past Goresh. The keeper gathers.
14 min: Cedric drops a shoulder and makes good down the right wing at speed. His deep cross looks dangerous, but with Austin sniffing around, Buzaglo steps in to clear.
12 min: The first meaningful attack by the visitors, as Sahar drifts in from the right, past a half-arsed challenge by Romeu, and has a shot from the edge of the box deflected out for a throw on the right. Danger over. Saints have started well, but there’s a reminder that they’re facing a decent team tonight.
10 min: Redmond skips past Bitton down the left with the greatest of ease, but then needlessly checks back instead of bombing on. A promising position comes to naught.
8 min: A gorgeous turn on a sixpence in a tight spot by Sims. It earns him some space down the inside-right channel. He loops a cross to the far stick, where Austin very nearly gets a header goalwards from a tight angle. Saints have to settle for a corner, which comes to nothing. But this Sims already looks the real deal, admittedly from a small data set.
6 min: Korhut breaks into the Saints box down the left on the overlap. He fires low and hard into the six-yard box. Forster does very well to parry the ball away from his near post, and Cedric hoicks clear.
4 min: Hapoel haven’t seen much of the ball. Saints stroking it around with confidence. Redmond and Bertrand clip a couple of passes back and forth to each other down the left, but can’t get anything going yet.
2 min: Bertrand earns Southampton the first corner of the night down the left. Redmond floats the set piece towards the far post, where Austin rises and connects. But he can’t get any power on his header, which sails calmly into the arms of Goresh. Saints begin the evening on the front foot, Sims having set the tone.
And we’re off! The visitors Hapoel get the ball rolling. And quickly lose it. Sims embarks on a purposeful run down the right, but he’s stopped in his tracks by Korhut. He doesn’t hang about, this Sims, does he? An assist in his Premier League debut against Everton within a minute or so, and now this display of positivity. A prospect all right.
But first, a chance to pay respects to the victims of the Associação Chapecoense de Futebol plane crash. A warm smattering of heartfelt applause, followed by a period of silence, perfectly observed.
The teams are out! A rare old atmosphere at St Mary’s. Pop tunes pouring out of the PA by the Beatles, Queen and the Skids. Thousands of red-and-white flags fluttering in the stands. The pitch has been well watered. Ditto the fans, if the hearty singing is anything to go by. A roof-rattling version of When The Saints Go Marching In. Dixieland-on-Solent. Saints are in their famous red-and-white stripes, while Hapoel, usually themselves desirous of sporting red clobber, are forced into second-choice white. We’ll be off in a minute!
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Three changes for Southampton to the team that went down 3-0 at Crystal Palace last weekend. Maya Yoshida replaces Jose Fonte at the back, while in the midfield, James Ward-Prowse and Sofiane Boufal make way for Steven Davis and Josh Sims, the latest hot talent off the club’s seemingly never-ending production line.
Hapoel make two swaps from the side that won 5-0 against Ashdod on Saturday. Ovidiu Hoban is preferred to Michael Ohana in midfield, while Ben Sahar gets the nod up front over the Brazilian Lucio Maranhao.
Tonight's teams
Southampton: Forster, Cedric, van Dijk, Yoshida, Bertrand, Romeu, Davis, Hojbjerg, Sims, Austin, Redmond.
Subs: Lewis, Clasie, Fonte, Long, Tadic, Ward-Prowse, McQueen.
Hapoel Be’er Sheva: Goresh, Bitton, Vitor, Tzedek, Korhut, Radi, Ogu, Hoban, Buzaglo, Sahar, Nwakaeme.
Subs: Haimov, Turjeman, Ghadir, Ohayon, Taha, Shabtai, Maranhao.
Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (Italy).
Preamble
Matchday Six of the Champions League wasn’t all that, let’s be honest. But here’s Matchday Six of the much-maligned Europa League taking up the slack! You couldn’t get a game more delicately poised than this affair between one of the most dependable teams in the Premier League and the champions of Israel. This one, ladies and gentlemen, really is on.
Here’s how things stand. Sparta Prague have already qualified as winners of Group K, while three-time European champions Internazionale have been nothing short of a risible disgrace, and are out. So the second qualifying slot is between these two sets of lads. Whoever wins tonight at St Mary’s will go through. Should the match finish as it starts, 0-0, Saints will progress on account of a better goal difference. But if it’s a score draw, Hapoel will progress on away goals in the head-to-head, as the teams drew 0-0 when they met in Israel.
Saints will take succour from a long unbeaten record at home in Europe, a seven-game run which stretches all the way back to October 1982, when goals from Kevin Keegan and Mick Channon weren’t enough to stop Sporting Lisbon romping to a 4-2 Uefa Cup win at the Dell. They’ll also very much like the overall record of Israeli sides in England: eight games played, six lost, none won. And Be’er Sheva themselves haven’t got a great record on the road: their last seven European trips have led to four defeats, two draws and just the one win.
On the flip side, Hapoel have won their last five games on the bounce, scoring 20 goals in the process, and three of those against Inter. Saints by contrast are coming off the back of a 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, though reaching the semi-finals of the League Cup for the first time since 1987 gave them a recent boost.
It’s delicately poised all right. This could be an early Christmas cracker. It kicks off at 8.05pm in Southampton, 10.05pm in Be’er Sheva.
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