Southampton
whimpered out at the play-off stage of the Europa League as they succumbed to FC
Midtjylland in Herning. The sole goal came from targetman Morten “Duncan”
Rasmussen in the first half but it was Saints’ lack of ingenuity that was the principal
cause of their premature elimination from Europe’s secondary cup competition.
From the outset, it was obvious that
Southampton would need a goal therefore the 500 strong travelling band of fans
would have been slightly surprised as Koeman decided to stick with the defensive
5-3-2 formation that he adopted at Vicarage Road against Watford. Although
there was no change in his side’s structure, there were a few switches in terms
of personnel. Cuco Martina came in for Cédric Soares, James Ward-Prowse
replaced the unavailable Victor Wanyama while Jay Rodriguez started ahead of
Sadio Mané who was only fit enough for the bench. Meanwhile, Midtjylland were
buoyed by the return of their captain Kristian Bach Bak, appropriately back in
the right back slot.
As the match got underway, Southampton’s
game plan was unambiguous. Koeman hinted in his pre-match press conference that
his team may attempt to replicate their first leg success against the Wolves
with a direct approach and this was unequivocally put into practice. Initially,
this tactic seemed to pay dividends. After eventually clearing one of centre
back Kian Hansen’s trademark long throws that was launched into their box,
Saints began to press their hosts. After Rodriguez forced a corner, Jose Fonte
met Ward-Prowse’s outswinging delivery with his head however the ball was dramatically
cleared off the line by a red shirt. Moments later, Saints were close to
finding the vital breakthrough once more, as Graziano Pellè beautifully clipped
the ball behind the Midtjylland defence for Rodriguez to run onto but he elected
to pass with his weaker left foot back to Ward-Prowse who had his effort
blocked. From there on in, the heavens opened and this foreshadowed Saints’
fate. They looked completely void of ideas as they refused to veer away from
their direct style. At any opportunity, Saints would exchange passes in their
own half before lumping the ball towards Pellè who performed admirably in
flicking the ball to his teammates when upon receiving a lofted pass. There was
only one occasion when this worked to good effect as Steven Davis collected
Pellè’s chest-down before rifling a low shot that Midtjylland ‘keeper Johan
Dahlin palmed away well in the 23rd minute. Yet, this style of play
did not yield enough results on the night for Southampton and minutes later,
they were made to pay for that miss. Rodriguez chased back to aid his teammates
in the left back position but he gave the ball away to Bach Bak who whipped in a
low cross for Rasmussen to turn past
José Fonte and slide the ball across Maarten Stekelenburg into the bottom
corner. For the rest of the half, Saints continued to look unusually abject.
This was encapsulated by Fonte who looked uncharacteristically nervous with several
wayward touches. The half time whistle was a relief as Southampton attempted to
regroup.
There were no changes when the lime
green shirts re-emerged for the second period as Koeman continued to instruct
his players to hit Pellè early. In fact, it was the hosts who nearly extended
their lead as Rasmussen nodded a free kick from the right narrowly past the
post. In the 57th minute, Koeman decided to switch his team around.
Steven Caulker made way for Dušan Tadić as Saints were reshaped into a 4-2-3-1
formation. The Serbian international moved onto the left wing while Ward-Prowse
came over to the right side. Koeman attempted to implement more of their usual
game, and Tadić started to threaten as he continuously chipped the ball into
the box from the left however the Midtjylland defence sheltered by former
Saints academy boy Tim Sparv defended stoutly. There was however a moment of
madness from a Midtjylland player minutes later when Ward-Prowse hit a bending
free kick that Rasmussen flung an arm out to block inside the box. Despite
Saints’ protests, the referee pointed for a corner. That was the only real
spark in the second half as Saints failed to test Dahlin in the Wolves goal. Shane
Long and Juanmi replaced Rodriguez and Davis as Saints went in pursuit of a
goal but Midtjylland killed the game off and Southampton never looked like they
would breach the Danish champions’ rigid defence. When the game came to a
close, there was bedlam in the MCH Arena and an outpour of joy from the home
fans. It is back to the drawing board at Staplewood though. Koeman claimed that
his side were unlucky in his post-match interview and stated that the performance
was of good quality though Southampton should have had more than enough quality
to overcome Midtjylland over two legs – as combative and effective as they
were. Perhaps, this was an attempt to shield his players after such a difficult
defeat but Saints must pick themselves up quickly. After the excitement of
European football being secured at the end of last season, Saints have left the
competition in lacklustre fashion, however the season is young. Such a
deflating evening will be hard to forget but Saints will at least have a chance
to concentrate on mustering a decent domestic cup run while attempting to
remain in the top ten. The second task begins on Sunday when Norwich visit St
Mary’s.
Man
of the Match
Tim
Sparv –
The Finnish midfielder expertly protected his back four again. It would have
been interesting to see how his career would have unfolded had he remained on
the South Coast for another couple of years.
Teams
and Ratings
FC Midtjylland
Dahlin
6 – Bach Bak (C) 6 (Romer 83’ N/A), Hansen 6, Swiatchenko 6, Lauridsen 6 –
Sparv 7 – Sisto 7 (Hassan 68’ 6), Andersson 6 (Pusic 80’ N/A), Poulsen 6, Royer
6 – Rasmussen 7
Bookings:
Poulsen, Sparv
Goals:
Rasmussen (26’)
Southampton
Stekelenburg
6 – Martina 5, Caulker 5 (Tadić 56’ 6), Fonte (C) 4, Yoshida 6, Targett 5 –
Romeu 5, S. Davis 6 (Juanmi 83’ N/A), Ward-Prowse 5 – Rodriguez 5 (Long 76’
N/A), Pellè 6
Bookings:
Rodriguez, Targett
No comments:
Post a Comment