Southampton continued their unbeaten run of form this evening with a massively dreary 0-0 draw with reigning Israeli champions Hapoel Be’er Sheva in the second game of the Europa League group stage.
Claude Puel made many alterations to his side from the weekend that beat West Ham away from home and with the trip to Leicester City on Sunday in mind, but his side simply couldn’t quite find their way through Hapoel on the night.
The hosts came closest to scoring in the closing stages of the game but Saints held firm and secured their fifth clean sheet in a row; an impressive record to boast in these early stages of the campaign.
Although Southampton couldn’t work their way to a win this evening, they still sit at the very top of Group K with four points to show for themselves from two games.
Here are my match ratings from the game.
Fraser Forster - 6
Forster made some decent stops throughout. The only little error in his ways was his poor distribution occasionally.
Cuco Martina - 5
Apart from one or two decent crosses, he was poor.
Virgil van Dijk - 6
Should have scored an easy chance early on but covered well defensively as the game progressed. Not his best.
Maya Yoshida - 6
Not a lot to shout about. He was alright.
Matt Targett - 6
Worked hard but did very little in attacking scenarios.
Oriol Romeu - 7
Best player on the pitch for Saints. Strong in the tackle and offered good defensive protection.
James Ward-Prowse - 6
Apart from the wonderful ball into the box early on, he was non-existent.
Jordy Clasie - 5
I forgot he was even on the pitch.
Jake Hesketh - 4
The occasion and physicality of the clash was just a bit too much for Hesketh. Correct decision from Puel to bring him off.
Shane Long - 3
Woeful.
Nathan Redmond - 4
What exactly did he do apart from square up to their whole team?
Dusan Tadic - 6
The only player looking to show a glimpse of creativity.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg - 6
Came on and looked composed.
Claude Puel - 8
Managed to grind out a positive result with a weakened team. Decent.