Ben Fisher was at St Mary’s, and his report has landed. Time to get clicking, folks. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night and sleep tight everyone.
An equally frustrated but defiant Ralph Hasenhuttl talks to Sky. “We deserve big credit. We can discuss about the red card, but for me how we bounced back was amazing. We tried to defend everything. They had 80 minutes to score against us. The goal we conceded was the one time we didn’t have pressure on the cross, but the rest was really well defended. The way the red card happened meant for me it was deserved that we got something today. Vestergaard has a bad touch but then he plays the ball back to the goalkeeper, he plays the ball, simple, pass. The official explanation was that it was a 100 percent goal chance. For me, Vardy never had the ball and also he would never get it. Maybe a foul because he hit him after he played the ball, but never a red card. Vardy never had control of the ball in the situation. It’s a VAR decision and we have had a few interesting decisions against us, and I don’t want to discuss it any more. I had a very good feeling before the game, and thought we had a very good start today, but then the red card changed everything. Defensively it was one of our best games.”
Brendan Rodgers speaks to Sky. “I’m a little frustrated. We didn’t do enough to win the game to be honest. It was a great opportunity, playing against ten men, and normally in that type of game we’re very good. But we didn’t really pick up the tempo until we went a goal behind. But give credit to Southampton, who defended deep, compact, and made it difficult for us. But yes, we’re disappointed. Our game was too slow. I haven’t seen the [red card] back, I’d need to see it again. We had a couple of really good chances, but not enough. We always want to win, we’ve shown this season that we’ll do anything we can to win, but tonight it just wasn’t enough. When we get back in on Monday, it’s another point towards where we want to go. We’ve got four games to go, we’re in a brilliant position, we showed a good mentality to get back into the game. We’ll have a good week to recover and get ready for next Friday [against Newcastle].”
James Maddison cuts a frustrated figure. “It was two points dropped. We had chances to win the game, especially after playing against ten men for so long, we should be winning the game, so it’s disappointing. They played in a low block and we had to work hard to break them down. We created chances, though, to be honest. We’re actually very good in situations against ten men, and coming from behind, we’ve scored a lot of late goals. So I still had hope right up until the last whistle, but it wasn’t to be. It’s tough when you get into a couple of good opportunities to score. We just didn’t have that cutting edge we’ve had for most of the season. I heard on the Sky Sports News on the coach coming in that Leicester have a chance to secure their Champions League spot. It’s not that simple! There’s so much football to be played, so much to happen. We can’t get caught up in that.”
Alex McCarthy, who had a fine game in Southampton’s goal, stopping nine on-target efforts, speaks to Sky Sports. “The point is massive. Obviously results haven’t been great for us, but to come away with a point after going down to ten men early on is an unbelievable effort from all the lads. Everyone’s done unbelievable. A top effort from the lads. I’m buzzing for them.” As for Vestergaard’s red card? “From where I was it looked like he got the ball first but followed through afterwards. I thought it was a little bit harsh. I thought he was getting to the ball, so I don’t know about that [the decision to send him off for denying a goalscoring opportunity]. You’d like to think 37 points is enough, but obviously we want to finish as high as possible, so we’ll keep trying to push up the table.”
It’s a big point for Saints, in more ways than one. They showed real moxie after going down, some would say controversially, to ten men. An 80-minute stand, during which they only shipped one goal and even took the lead, has brought them up to 14th position, ten points clear of the dropzone on 37 points. They’re surely safe ... and that staunch performance will go a long way to consigning last season’s capitulation to the past. It’s a damaging draw for Leicester, though; they remain third on 63, four shy of Manchester United and five clear of Chelsea, but they’ve now played a game more than everyone around them, and still have to travel to Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge. Everyone down to Everton in eighth will be boosted a little by this result, while Leicester wouldn’t be human if they didn’t occasionally think about last season’s late collapse. They should still be good for a top-four finish ... but the final three weeks of this year’s Premier League are going to be one heck of a ride.
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FULL TIME: Southampton 1-1 Leicester City
That’s a magnificent point for the hosts, who played with ten men for 80 minutes. Compare and contrast: when they went down to ten in this fixture last year, they ended up shipping nine.
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90 min +3: Leicester press, but lose control, allowing Ward-Prowse to pounce and win a free kick from the lunging Perez.
90 min +2: Maddison crosses from the right, hoping to find Vardy. McCarthy comes out to claim comfortably this time.
90 min +1: Adams is replaced by N’Lundulu.
90 min: Tielemans crosses long from a deep position on the right. The ball drops over Walker-Peters and finds Castagne, rushing in from the left, six yards out. He sidefoots left of goal, wildly so. Leicester’s last chance? They’ve got three extra minutes in which to fashion another.
89 min: Albrighton curls powerfully in from the right. McCarthy comes out and flaps, under pressure from Iheanacho. The ball clanks off the back of the keeper’s head and nearly flies into the top left! Just a corner, which is dealt with after a fashion by the home defence.
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87 min: Vardy dances down the left, thinks about shooting, then pulls back for Ndidi, just to the left of the D. Ndidi meets the ball first time, but drags his low drive wide left.
86 min: He doesn’t take it very well. The ball pinballs around, hitting Evans on the back of the head, and Ndidi is caught offside anyway.
85 min: Perez spins into some space down the right and is bundled over by Armstrong. This is a free kick in a very dangerous position, just to the side of the Southampton box. Tielemans to take.
83 min: Vardy enters the box down the left, dropping a shoulder to send Walker-Peters off to the shops, and suddenly he’s one on one with McCarthy! But he slams his shot straight at the keeper, who kicks away from danger.
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82 min: Leicester continue to pass and probe, probe and pass. Saints are boxed in. But they’re thrown a lifeline when Soyuncu loses patience and tries to force things with a cross towards nobody in particular. Goal kick.
80 min: Albrighton drops a shoulder down the right before whipping towards the far post. Vardy is preparing to head home from close range, but he’s beaten to it by Walker-Peters, who not only clears but wins a free kick. Walker-Peters takes his time in getting up; the ten men of Saints can see the finishing line now, a street-fighting point now a very real opportunity.
79 min: The ball drops from the sky. Ndidi shapes to volley from the edge of the Saints box ... but Tielemans has the same idea and gets in his way. Both men hesitate and the chance is gone.
78 min: No team in the Premier League has scored more goals in the final quarter-hour of matches this season than Leicester City with 20. A 21st would be so precious in the pursuit of Champions League football.
76 min: The ineffective Minamino is replaced by Diallo.
74 min: Iheanacho busies himself down the left and wins a corner. For the nth time this evening, they take it short and overplay.
72 min: Armstrong is bundled over on the halfway line. Saints send everyone upfield and task Ward-Prowse with delivering something dangerous. He finds Stephens on the right. Stephens crosses, causing a minor kerfuffle in the Leicester box. The visitors eventually clear, but there’s a reminder from the home side that a Leicester win is not inevitable.
71 min: That was a highly impressive period of pressure from Leicester, who kept coming at Saints from all angles. The hosts eventually buckled. And this could be a long last 20 minutes, as Perez nearly wriggles his way through the middle, and Maddison has a shot that’s blocked.
69 min: Leicester want the win, and so on comes Albrighton in place of Thomas.
GOAL! Southampton 1-1 Leicester City (Evans 68)
The corner is only half cleared. Iheanacho makes up for the penalty by curling in from the right, teeing up Evans for a header, six yards out. Evans flashes it home and the Foxes are level! That had been coming.
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67 min: Evans nearly meets the corner with a header, six yards out. He doesn’t quite make it. The ball is worked back to Maddison, whose rising screamer is tipped over by McCarthy. And from that second set piece, Perez curls excellently towards the top right from the edge of the box. It’s heading in, but the keeper fingertips spectacularly around the post.
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66 min: Ah, better signs for Leicester as Maddison begins to move freely again, winning a corner on the right with his cross-cum-shot.
64 min: Maddison is limping a little, having overstretched while chasing a lost cause down the Leicester left. Brendan Rodgers will be holding his breath.
63 min: It’s far too early to get frustrated, though. Someone should tell Maddison, who welts an overly ambitious effort towards the Solent from 25 yards.
62 min: Suddenly Saints look a new team. Redmond is sent scurrying down the inside-left channel and nearly finds Adams in the middle with a cutback. Not quite, and Thomas is able to hack clear, but Champions League chasing Leicester have been rattled here.
GOAL! Southampton 1-0 Leicester City (Ward-Prowse 61 pen)
After an interminable VAR check, the penalty is confirmed. Ward-Prowse plants it into the bottom left. Schmeichel went the right way, but couldn’t reach a crisply driven effort. The ten men lead!
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Penalty for Southampton!
59 min: Ward-Prowse pulls back for Armstrong, who shoots from 12 yards. The ball is heading miles over the bar, but Iheanacho meets it with both arms in the air. Clang! The referee thinks about it, before making the correct decision and pointing to the spot.
58 min: Ward-Prowse shows a little ambition by dropping a shoulder and nearly beating Castagne down the left. He’s about to whip in from the corner when he’s barged over illegally. A free kick that is effectively a corner.
57 min: Castagne crosses long from the right. Thomas rises at the far post but can only waft a header into the arms of McCarthy. Then another phase of play, with Castagne curling low from the same wing, the keeper getting down to smother. A little better from Leicester, who have been huffing and puffing a little against the ten men.
55 min: Leicester knock it around hither and yon, but Saints are still refusing to buckle.
53 min: Corner for Leicester down the right. They decide to play this one short, and to be honest it’s no better than any of the others. Castagne falls over in the general environs of Minamino, but he’s not getting the penalty he’s looking for.
51 min: Minamino goes in the book for a clip on Thomas, a second or two late as he tries to close his man down. It’s a free kick for sure, but a slightly harsh booking. Ward-Prowse makes his feeling known to the referee yet again. Nothing comes of the resulting free kick, which is hoicked into the box and easily plucked from the sky by McCarthy.
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49 min: Or maybe not. Saints spend a bit of time in the Leicester half. They don’t go anywhere in particular, but it’s a whole lot easier than chasing the visitors around. The clock ticks on.
47 min: Leicester are on the front foot early doors, having been clearly ordered to pick up the tempo. Saints meanwhile are sitting back, all compact; when McCarthy claims the ball, he ostentatiously flops to the floor in the classic clock-management style. A pattern could be set.
Leicester get the second half underway. Brendan Rodgers has made an attacking substitution, sacrificing one of his three centre-backs, Fofana, and throwing on Perez.
More half-time entertainment, courtesy of Peter Oh. “Next month will mark the 32nd anniversary of Ralph Hasenhüttl’s first goal scored on national team duty, in a 4-0 Austria win at Hungary in 1988. He is wearing the No15 shirt and scores the second goal, a fairly straightforward header from the edge of the six-yard box. Southampton could sure use a simple goal like that today.”
Half-time reading. It’s the back of referee Robert Jones’ warm-up shirt, publicising the Don’t X The Line campaign promoting respect for officials.
HALF TIME: Southampton 0-0 Leicester City
The ten men of Saints make it to the break without conceding. Ward-Prowse has a chat with the referee as everyone leaves the field, perhaps wondering why Vestergaard was sent packing for the denial of a goalscoring opportunity - he definitely poked the ball away from Vardy - as opposed to serious foul play - he also definitely plants his studs on Vardy’s leg, bending it just above the ankle. Right answer, wrong working?
45 min +2: A long Southampton free kick is pumped into the Leicester box. Adams wins the first header, but there’s to be no sucker punch landed by the hosts at the end of the half.
45 min +1: The first of three added minutes passes without incident.
45 min: Maddison tries to release Castagne down the right, but the Saints back line moves up and the Leicester man is flagged offside. Then Stephens takes his time over a throw, and Leicester betray their general frustration by attempting to chivvy him along. Stephens pushing some buttons there.
43 min: Iheanacho nearly gets the better of Salisu down the left, but has to settle for a corner. Tielemans takes. Bednarek beats Fofana in an aerial challenge and executes a booming clearance.
42 min: All very scrappy. Southampton have been impressively dogged since going down to ten.
40 min: Leicester win - and waste - another corner on the left. The Foxes have only scored four times from corners this season, and so far it shows.
38 min: A rare sortie upfield for Southampton, as Adams wriggles down the right, draws a few blue shirts, and lays off for Armstrong, whose low drive is blocked by his own man Minamino.
37 min: McCarthy is beginning to earn his corn now. Tielemans is sprung into the area down the right by Iheanacho, firing low and hard towards the bottom right. McCarthy kicks away, not in a particularly convincing manner, but job done.
36 min: Now Maddison has a go, after jinking his way into a little pocket of space, 30 yards out. He catches it well, but the sheer distance does for him, and it’s another easy claim for McCarthy.
34 min: Iheanacho sends a shot goalwards from 25 yards. It’s their first effort on target, and easily claimed by McCarthy.
33 min: Iheanacho, Maddison and Tielemans flick some pretty triangles along the face of the Saints box. But they over-elaborate and go nowhere. Bednarek is able to get in the road and purchase a cheap foul to relieve the pressure.
31 min: The game restarts, though nothing much happens. Southampton, one man short, will be more than happy for this match to fizzle out.
29 min: Play is paused so Fofana, who is observing Ramadan, can take on food and liquid now that the sun has gone down. During Ramadan, fasting during daylight hours is obligatory for some Muslims.
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27 min: Leicester continue to stroke it around. Southampton hold their shape. Finally there’s a little bit of room for Castagne down the right, but he lumps his cross behind for a goal kick.
25 min: Ralph Hasenhuttl prowls the touchline, wearing the look of a worried man. But his side are holding firm for now. Leicester are pressing them back, but McCarthy hasn’t had a save to make yet.
23 min: Vardy grooves his way down the left and earns another Leicester corner. Tielemans takes. Bednarek half-clears. Tielemans sends it in again. Stephens heads clear this time.
21 min: Castagne works his way down the right and earns a corner off Stephens. Tielemans takes, pulling the ball back for Maddison on the edge of the box. We can conclude that this particular caper is more difficult than David Beckham and Paul Scholes made it look.
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19 min: So it turns out that Vestergaard was sent packing for denying Vardy a goalscoring opportunity, and nowt to do with the follow-through. Strange, because it looked as though he got the ball before catching the player. Who’d be a referee, huh.
18 min: Walker-Peters sashays in from the right, evading three challenges before slipping the ball infield to Redmond, who sends a swerving drive goalwards. Schmeichel parries, but not with any great conviction. The ten men of Southampton may conclude that the best form of defence this evening is attack.
16 min: Vardy appears to be moving freely again. He shapes to make off down the left, but Maddison’s pass hits his heel. Then he nearly breaks clear down the middle, only for Bednarek to block. Saints, understandably, are rocking a wee bit.
15 min: Saints make their enforced defensive reshuffle, replacing Tella with Salisu, who takes his place in the centre of defence. Stephens shifts over to left-back.
14 min: ... sends the ball inches wide of the right-hand post. Not sure McCarthy was getting there had it been on target.
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13 min: More faffing, as the referee spends some time ensuring the Southampton wall is ten yards back. Eventually Maddison takes the free kick and ...
12 min: Vardy felt that challenge, and he’s taken quite a while to get back up. When he eventually does, he limps gingerly. But for now he’s good to continue.
11 min: Saints fans won’t need reminding that they went down to ten men early doors in this fixture last year, and at Old Trafford earlier this season, and look what happened on both occasions. Surely a third 9-0 reverse isn’t on the cards ... but you never know in football.
RED CARD: Vestergaard (Southampton)
10 min: Disaster for Saints! Vestergaard miscontrols on the edge of his own box. He stretches a leg to ensure Vardy doesn’t rush in on goal. He gets the ball ... but his follow-through studs Vardy above the ankle. The referee flashes red.
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9 min: On Sky, commentator Martin Tyler is already into double figures with references to the 9-0.
8 min: But Saints continue to press hard, Minamino stripping Soyuncu and teeing up Tella on the edge of the box. Tella has more time than he thinks, and scuffs a weak shot straight at Schmeichel. A bright start by the hosts.
6 min: Tella is brought down by Fofana, out on the left, the Leicester man fortunate not to go into the book. Play is waved on, Adams and Redmond nearly opening the visitors up down the same wing. Not quite.
5 min: Redmond is good to continue. The game restarts and Fofana sprays a diagonal pass towards Thomas on the left wing. Thomas gets the leap on Minamino, but achieves nothing other than sending the ball out for a goal kick. What a pass by Fofana, though.
4 min: Saints continue their confident start by stroking the ball around. Then the game stops so Redmond can get some treatment, having been accidentally nutted on the back of the head by Evans.
2 min: A fairly nondescript start as both sides take turns to familiarise themselves with the ball. Then suddenly Vestergaard suddenly rakes a long pass down the middle to release Walker-Peters! The full back strides clear, opens his body, and sidefoots powerfully into the top right. But he’s gone too early, and there goes an early sensation.
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Saints get the ball rolling ... but only after everyone takes a knee of love, solidarity, fairness and respect. There’s no room for racism. Challenge it. Report it. Change it. Kick it out.
The teams are out! Southampton in their red shirts with white sash, Leicester in the usual blue. We’ll be off in a minute.
Brendan Rodgers takes his turn. “The game tonight is an important game. We are really excited about it. It’s about looking up: we are five points behind Manchester United, and we will do everything we can to catch them. The players have been amazing in their approach from the very first game of the season. We do not dwell on the past. The players have matured and improved and collectively have been very strong. It’s all about concentration at this stage of the season. The players have really good fitness levels.” He then goes on to enthuse about the in-form Kelechi Iheanacho at length, concluding that “he sees finishes of all different types ... we are all delighted for him but he knows he needs to continue with it.”
Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl speaks to Sky. “We must try to bring tight games on our side. This is something we have missed during the second half of the season. The guys know we have played better football in the first half, and now we must bring this quality back. We have shown it in short moments in the past weeks, but not always enough for winning, so this is the goal. We must do the good things for a little bit longer. We need more than one good result, there is still a chance to climb to 12th, this is the goal for me, there are six games left.”
In the interests of balance, here’s one of Southampton’s better designs down the years. In an ideal world I’d post the jazzier Admiral number from the late 70s, one of the genuinely all-time great shirts, but there aren’t any photos of that in our archive, so this will have to do.
One of the great Leicester City kits in that video. Here it is in closer detail, sported by that promising young lad who nearly outstripped Mark Wright on the wing. A classic late-era Admiral design; also the strutting fox of modernism should be more iconic than he is. One of the great forgotten badges.
It Never Gets Old dept. Never mind the 0-9, this is the definitive rain-soaked rumble between these two clubs.
Southampton make three changes to the side named for the last-minute defeat at Tottenham Hotspur last Wednesday. Nathan Redmond stands in for the injured Danny Ings, while Takumi Minamino and Jack Stephens replace Theo Walcott and Mohammed Salisu, both of whom drop to the bench.
Leicester have won their two Premier League games since knocking Saints out of the FA Cup. On something of a roll, Brendan Rodgers names the same starting XI for the third match in a row.
The teams
Southampton: McCarthy, Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Stephens, Tella, Armstrong, Ward-Prowse, Minamino, Adams, Redmond.
Subs: Djenepo, Salisu, Diallo, Ramsay, Walcott, N’Lundulu, Forster, Ferry, Jankewitz.
Leicester City: Schmeichel, Fofana, Evans, Soyuncu, Castagne, Ndidi, Tielemans, Thomas, Maddison, Iheanacho, Vardy.
Subs: Albrighton, Ward, Perez, Amartey, Under, Choudhury, Ricardo Pereira, Mendy, Praet.
Referee: Robert Jones (Merseyside).
Preamble
It’s fair to say Leicester City have enjoyed the upper hand over Southampton recently. There’s the FA Cup semi-final of a fortnight ago, a run-of-the-mill 2-0 victory at the King Power back in January, and the small matter of that 9-0 last season, the goals raining and pouring on a trippy, slippy, head-flippy Friday night in October 2019.
If that wasn’t enough, Leicester also emerged victorious from their two previous visits to St Mary’s, 2-1 in August 2018, 4-1 in December 2017. We’re beginning to go back a ways, with players such as Harry Maguire and Riyad Mahrez in royal blue, but a three-match 15-2 aggregate scoreline is a three-match 15-2 aggregate scoreline, whichever way you spin it.
Throw in the fact that Leicester are on course for a top-four finish, while Southampton are in a frankly abysmal run of form, having lost 12 of their last 14 matches, and there’s surely only one winner here tonight. And yet in football, there’s always hope, and Saints will point to their 2-1 win at the King Power last January, as well as the three-goal comeback win over Burnley in their last outing at St Mary’s.
So can Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side deliver the shock that would surely quash any relegation worries once and for all? Or will Brendan Rodgers’ FA Cup finalists edge closer to Champions League football next season? We’ll find out tonight. Kick off is at 8pm BST. It’s on!
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