Our man of the match: Watford (H)
Southampton slipped down to 13th after this weekend results following a 2-0 defeat at home to Watford.
The Saints failed to continue their unbeaten start to the season as they fell short to a highly energetic Watford outfit. Marco Silva simply got the better of his counterpart Mauricio Pellegrino on the day, and his side took full advantage of a hapless Saints performance.
Abdoulaye Doucoure fired a well-placed shot beyond the reach of Fraser Forster in the first half to give the Hornets the lead. After the interval, substitute Daryl Janmaat added insult to injury for Saints, and secured the win for Watford.
There were few good performances from Saints on the day, but if we had to pick a man of the match, it’d be debutant Wesley Hoedt!
The Dutchman was the best of a bad bunch, and looked composed throughout. He won most of his duels and was assured despite Saints’ shortcoming in the contest.
Hoedt is not a player blessed with pace, and that was clear for all to see against Watford. However, he compensated for this with a sturdy defensive display, showing good positional awareness next to Jack Stephens, who was also relatively solid.
The 23-year-old’s range of pass was good to see, too, and he laid the foundations for a positive season with an adequate display amongst some awful ones.