Southampton were able to narrowly defeat Fulham on Saturday afternoon, as James Ward-Prowse’s goal handed them a ticket into the fourth round of the FA Cup.
It was a tightly-contested affair throughout and following Saints’ early goal, Fulham controlled large parts of the match. It was only for their counterparts’ poor finishing that Saints came away from the game unscathed.
The performance left much to be desired but the most important thing was the outcome, and Saints duly delivered as they won 1-0.
There were few standout performances from Saints once again, but our man of the match was Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
It was yet another case of the young Dane orchestrating the tempo of his side’s play from deep. When he was in possession, Hojbjerg displayed composure and awareness with regards to where his teammates were and which pass was the most suitable for the context of the match.
Hojbjerg played with the same aggression and determination that he has done since being integrated into the side and, once again, he was Saints’ best performer by a long stretch.
He is developing into a truly exceptional player and is going from strength to strength at Southampton.
