Full time; Southampton 3-0 Leicester
Peep peep! Southampton end a run of four straight league defeats with an easy victory over Leicester, who veered between apathetic and pathetic for most of the game. Thanks for your company; bye.
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90+2 min “Re: exciting title challenge by Leeds in 1999-2000,” says Admir Pajic. “They ended up 22 points behind Man United, closer to the 13th place than to the league title. Hardly a title challenge, let alone an exciting one.”
When Man Utd went to Elland Road in February, there were three points between the teams with 14 games remaining. So to me it was a title challenge for the first two-thirds of the season, and a very exciting one.
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90+1 min Schmeichel plunges to his right to palm away a long-range shot from Redmond.
89 min “Yeah I meant as in a team with a coherent philosophy playing at the very top and winning titles,” says Phil Podolsky. “Didn’t make it clear.”
Ah yeah, fair point. There must have been a few of those with Madrid in the 1990s as well. And as for Internazionale...
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88 min A gorgeous cross from Ward-Prowse bounces between Long and Schmeichel on the six-yard line. Ward-Prowse’s delivery is consistently superb. I haven’t seen him enough to know about the other parts of his game but his delivery is international-class. Gareth Southgate is in the crowd today as well.
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88 min Southampton have been very good today and fully deserve their victory. They will move up to 11th in the table.
87 min Dusan Tadic’s left foot went to Harvard.
GOAL! Southampton 3-0 Leicester (Tadic 86 pen)
Tadic smashes a brilliant penalty into the top corner. Schmeichel went the right way but had no chance.
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PENALTY TO SOUTHAMPTON
The substitute Long is too quick for Morgan, who leans on him in the area. A clear penalty and a yellow card.
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82 min “People such as Petit and Overmars who moved to Barcelona in 2000 were definitely banking on the continuation of the Van Gaal era,” says Phil Podolsky, “as opposed to the farce that followed (and completely derailed both their careers).”
Had he not buggered off by the time they signed?
81 min Leicester’s next six league games are very interesting: Burnley (A), Man Utd (H), Swansea (A), Liverpool (H), Hull (H) and Arsenal (A).
80 min Shane Long replaces the goalscorer Jay Rodriguez for Southampton, who are cruising to victory.
75 min Wes Morgan has an own goal disallowed for offside. He headed a Tadic free-kick into his own net under conspiderable pressure from Yoshida, who was deemed to be offside and interfering with Morgan’s decision-making equilibrium. I think Yoshida was level in fact, but there you go; I doubt it will change the result.
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73 min Another Southampton substitution: Jordi Clasie replaces Hojbjerg, who had a very good game in everything but his finishing.
72 min Leicester’s best chance of the match. A corner is half cleared to Musa, who puts in a great cross from the right. Huth makes a mess of a clear headed chance, diverting it back across the box to Morgan, who in turn hammers over from eight yards. They should both have scored. Leicester could be level!
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71 min Gray roars past Cedric, who makes a great recovery tackle to concede a corner. Gray has so much potential if he can sort out his decision-making.
70 min “Morning Rob,” says Natasha. “There is a great story about Leeds-bound Seth Johnson’s agent telling him to sit tight and say nothing because the agent was going to try for 35 grand per week. And Peter Ridsdale opens the negotiations by saying “we are not paying anything more than 50k per week”
Peter Ridsdale must have had the best Egg Card in the world. That Leeds team is a great story in so many ways. Everything turned so rapidly to flip that it’s easy to forget their thrilling title challenge in 1999-2000 and their European Cup a year later. I think they were the last team of kids to challenge for the title, though Spurs are pretty young at the moment, which is one of the 48 million reasons to love them.
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66 min Cedric runs through a pitiful challenge from Fuchs and hits a shot against the arm of Huth. There are appeals for a penalty but Michael Oliver gives it not out. His arm was tight to his body, which is presumably why it wasn’t given.
63 min Another Leicester change: Okazaki off, Ahmed Musa on.
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61 min Breaking news: Leicester are not too good to go down. They have been dismal today, as they are in most away games. They should stay up, but it will only be because of their home form.
60 min An appalling square pass from Fuchs goes straight to Hojbjerg just outside the box. He moves towards Schmeichel and then mishits his shot wide of the far post. That was a sitter.
60 min It’s been a scruffy second half so far, full of futile endeavour. Morgan and Vardy are just hinting at an imminent loss of rag.
58 min Albrighton clatters a bouncing ball towards goal from 30 yards, and Forster saves comfortably to his left. I think it was going wide anyway.
55 min Van Dijk walks slowly from the field, to be replaced by Jack Stephens. It’s a problem with his left ankle, so it’s hard to know at this stage what chance he has of making the Liverpool semi-final.
54 min Van Dijk heads clear and then falls straight to his knees. I think he needs to go off. This is a bad blow for Southampton, who go to Anfield this week for their League Cup semi-final second leg. It might also be a blessing in a very good disguise: if he is out for a short time, the chances of him leaving in this transfer window will reduce.
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52 min “Trying to think of who has the most egregious example of turning up to a team that is not what they signed up for,” says Michael Hunt. “Thinking in terms of folk like Slimani, joining from a minor (?) European powerhouse to the recently successful, most popular club in the world only to battle it out at the bottom. But that’s too easy. Leicester were always a one off and no real idea how the sophomore season would go. Anyone who joined Chelsea or Man U in the past few seasons? Owen at a push for missing out on that night in Istanbul, but he did get a season in Madrid for all his misgivings so I don’t think that works. Also is “sold a pup” a real saying? Was just about to send and had doubts, I feel like purchasing a pup would improve most situations.”
There were a few who joined Leeds in the early 2000s who were sold a pup, even if they were rewarded handsomely at the same time. (And yes, yes it is a real saying.)
51 min Van Dijk is struggling. It might be something he can run off but at the momet he is hobbling badly. It wasn’t a good tackle from Vardy, who might have been booked.
49 min Gray races elegantly down the left and drags a cross towards Vardy. Van Dijk gets there first, class act that he is, and Vardy leaves a naughty one on him. Van Dijk needs treatment though he should be okay.
48 min “Is N’Golo Kante really worth 30 points a season?” asks Daniel Friedman.
No. They’d be in a similar position with him in the team.
47 min Hojbjerg almost makes it 3-0 at the start of the second half, screeching a shot wide from 17 yards after a cross from Tadic.
46 min Leicester, who have returned to 4-4-2, begin the second half.
Half-time substitution Marc Albrighton replaces Nampalys Mendy for Leicester.
Half time: Southampton 2-0 Leicester
It’s deja vu all over again for Leicester, who have played poorly and deserve to trail a neat, purposeful Southampton. See you in 10 minutes for the second half.
45 min Simpson has a brazen pull of Tadic’s shirt inside the box. Michael Oliver doesn’t give a penalty; Michael Dean would have done..
44 min Yoshida strides out of the defence only to lose the ball to Ndidi. He slides it forward into the Yoshida-shaped gap for Vardy, but the right-back Cedric covers excellently.
41 min Gray goes on another dangerous run infield from the left. This time he works a shooting position from 20 yards but screams it over the bar. He is so exciting to watch when he runs at players.
The goal came from a free-kick near the halfway line on the left. Ward-Prowse’s delivery was superb, dipping into a really dangerous area. The under-pressure Huth could only head it across the box towards Rodriguez, who rattled it emphatically past Schmeichel from close range.
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GOAL! Southampton 2-0 Leicester (Rodriguez 39)
Southampton double their lead!
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38 min Mendy and Hojbjerg collide nastily but seem to be okay.
36 min Vardy guides a good header down to Gray on the left and hares into the box for the return. As if that’s coming: Gray has a wildly ambitious shot miles over the bar. You can tell Gray has a lot of talent but his decision-making is dreadful at the moment. That’s often the case with young players so it’s nothing to worry about.
34 min Southampton have been better than Leicester and also hungrier. It’s all pretty apathetic from Leicester, though after last season they get a free pass forever.
32 min “I wanted to send you a quick email to ask about your PAT testing,” writes Molly Trenton. “For safety and compliance purposes, PAT is normally carried out on business electrical appliances every 1-5 years. I’m sure I can help you with your PAT, and help you save money in the process. I’d love to have a chat, when would be the best time to call?”
It’s not gonna happen, Molly. The sooner you learn to deal with that, the better it’ll be for all of us.
31 min Okazaki is fouled by Cedric just outside the D. Gray’s free-kick hits the shoulder of Hojbjerg and goes behind for a corner.
28 min Southampton continue to control the game. Hojbjerg’s shot is kicked behind by Huth for a corner on the right. Tadic’s wicked inswinger clears everyone at the near post and bounces off the unsighted Huth at the far before landing safely. That could have gone anywhere.
It was a neatly constructed goal. Cedric combined well with Redmond on the right before surging into the box and playing the ball back to Ward-Prowse, who scrunched a first-time curler across Schmeichel and into the corner. Schmeichel got a hand on it at full stretch but could only help it into the net.
GOAL! Southampton 1-0 Leicester (Ward-Prowse 26)
Southampton take the lead!
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24 min Hojbjerg plays a poor pass to Romeu on the halfway line that allows Leicester to break, but redeems his error by getting back to intercept Okazaki’s through pass to Gray. He was helped by a poorly weighted pass from Okazaki; had it been firmer Gray would probably have had a shot at goal.
21 min “I remember Leeds winning the league more than once,” says Martin Ansell. “68/69 and 73/74 spring to mind as well as the Premiership.”
Oh come on, you know exactly what I meant: one-off champions in a particular era. Blackburn won the league in 1912 and 1914 as well, everyone knows that.
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19 min Tadic’s low pass from the left of the box goes all the way across to Redmond, who opens his body to sidefoot a first-time shot towards the near post. Schmeichel gets down smartly to tip it behind for a corner. Leicester break from the corner through Gray, who runs 60 yards before hitting a curling shot straight at Forster from the left side of the box. Vardy was in a lot of space on the other side of the area; Gray didn’t see/ignored him.
16 min Ndidi wins the ball 30 yards out, chesting it up in the air before leathering a volley towards goal. He doesn’t connect properly and it bounces through to Forster.
14 min Southampton’s full-backs are getting in some very dangerous positions, which was always a risk for Leicester with their diamond midfield.
I’ve only gone and done tactics!
13 min Cedric curls in a fine cross from the right towards Rodriguez, who can’t get enough on his header because of the considerable presence of Morgan on the six-yard line. That was good defending, without which Southampton would be 1-0 ahead.
9 min Bertrand gets into the box on the left and clips a cross back to Hojbjerg, who smashes it over the bar from 15 yards. It was a difficult chance as the ball bounced up awkwardly.
8 min Southampton are starting to dominate the game. It’s the same old story for Leicester. Last season they took 39 points away from home; this season they have three.
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6 min Redmond misses a good chance to give Southampton the lead. Tadic has far too much space on the left and puts in a deep, swirling cross. Fuchs mistimes his jump and Redmond, who possibly expected Fuchs to clear, heads onto the roof of the net from eight yards.
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4 min Leicester are indeed playing a diamond midfield, as expected. I bring this information to you because bugger all else is happening.
2 min Schmeichel gets in a bit of a mess when a deep cross is headed up in the air. Eventually he kicks the ball against Ward-Prowse and out for a goalkick.
1 min Peep peep! Southampton, in red and white stripes, kick off from right to left. Leicester are in blue.
“Claude Puel and Southampton are still in course for the League Cup final,” says Yoann Lechenault. “But do you think a fifth consecutive loss today and an elimination against Liverpool could send send Puel away? Or is he here for the long haul?”
You’d like to think Southampton, who in many ways are the Premier League’s model club, have a bit more sanity and class than the instant-gratification eejits who run most clubs in this league, but it wouldn’t exactly be a JFK moment if he was sacked in the next few weeks.
Team news
Southampton (possible 4-3-3) Forster; Cedric, van Dijk, Yoshida, Bertrand; Hojbjerg, Romeu, Ward-Prowse; Redmond, Rodriguez, Tadic.
Substitutes: Taylor, Clasie, Long, Martina, Stephens, McQueen, Sims.
Leicester (possible 4-D-2) Schmeichel; Simpson, Morgan, Huth, Fuchs; Ndidi, Drinkwater, Mendy; Okazaki; Vardy, Gray.
Substitutes: Zieler, Chilwell, Musa, King, Albrighton, Kapustka, Benalouane.
Referee Michael Oliver.
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Preamble
Hello. The English football massive are still in denial about Leicester being in a relegation battle. That is fair enough – they are the bloody champions, and this isn’t the 1930s – but they are starting to cut things a bit fine. Their abysmal away form, which echoes the, erm, difficult title defences of other one-off winners like Leeds in 1992-93 and Blackburn in 1995-96, is the worst in the league apart from Burnley and has left them languishing in 15th place.
With Swansea’s palpable improvement under Paul Clement and Sam Allardyce an antidote to relegation, there might soon be a new team in the bottom three alongside Sunderland and Hull. It could be Leicester - or even Southampton, who have lost their last four games and are in freeishfall.
They have been quiet achievers for the last few seasons; at the moment they are quiet underachievers, with hardly anybody noticing their descent to 13th place. They still have an eight-point cushion from Crystal Palace in 18th so there’s nothing to worry about yet. Both these clubs have bigger priorities at the moment – the League Cup and the Champions League respectively - but if they are not careful, avoiding relegation will become their main ambition.
(For what it’s worth I think they both have no chance of going down, but these preambles don’t write themselves. What else is there to talk about? Memories of the 0-0 draw between the sides in April 1925? Virgil van Dijk’s pass-completion stats? )
Kick off is at midday.
Rob will be here shortly with the build-up and team news before the midday kick-off. In the meantime, here is Paul Doyle’s preview:
Southampton dominated proceedings against Leicester when these sides met in October but had to settle for a 0-0 draw because of poor finishing, a recurring problem this season. Claudio Ranieri’s side need to do better this time in order to hoist themselves further clear of the relegation zone and they may be helped by Southampton preparing for their EFL Cup semi-final second leg against Liverpool on Wednesday.
Kick-off Sunday midday
Venue St Mary’s Stadium
Last season Southampton 2 Leicester City 2
Live Sky Sports 1
Referee Michael Oliver
This season G18, Y60, R1, 3.44 cards per game
Odds H 5-6 A 4-1 D 5-2
