20:50pm on Thursday. Half-time at St Mary’s. Southampton trail Inter Milan 1-0 and have struggled to create any clear-cut chances. That situation was soon eradicated from the fans’ minds after an exceptional second-half display which saw them come from behind to beat the three-time European champions. Whatever Claude Puel did, or said, at half-time it did the trick.
In the first 30 minutes, Southampton lacked urgency in attacking areas and, while they held possession well, were playing in and around their defence rather than in the final third. Inter adopted the same approach. They seemed in no rush to close the Saints down and had no drive about them while in possession. This made for what can only be described as a lacklustre encounter.
Mauro Icardi’s opener dented the atmosphere in the ground and Dusan Tadić’s missed penalty added to the supporters’ woes before the break. There was a certain reminiscence of what had happened two weeks earlier; Southampton were in full control of the game and were somehow behind.
Between leaving the pitch at the end of the first half and entering it for the start of the second, the Saints players were reminded of the occasion – hosting one of the biggest teams in Europe. An undeniable maturity bestowed itself upon the players and they showed Inter what they are really capable of.
There were so many stand-out performances in that second half. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, although it was to no avail, was continually trying to break through the Italians’ sturdy defence. Sam McQueen showed composure under pressure and delivered some dangerous crosses.
Virgil van Dijk has also received many plaudits for his performance in the memorable win. The Dutch defender controlled the game from deep and bagged an equaliser for the Saints just moments having a header tipped over the bar.
One man stood out, though. Nathan Redmond.
Redmond, who was given the freedom to drift between a wide position and the striker role, was a constant annoyance for the Inter defence. Andrea Ranocchia simply could not deal with the pace of Redmond and, as a result, Inter committed less men forward for attacks in order to nullify the attacking threat that Redmond possessed.
Puel combatted this by replacing Jay Rodriguez with Charlie Austin. That took the focus off of Redmond, who was once again able to exploit the away side with his pace and directness. Bringing on Austin added a whole new dimension to Southampton’s game. Their play seemed to be more fluid and familiar. The Southampton that everyone has enjoyed watching this season returned and the Saints’ faithful got what they deserved for turning out on a Thursday night.
Albeit it through an own goal that Southampton won the game, their second half performance was superb. It was a joy to watch such a driven, entertaining side – even though it took them 45 minutes of dour, uninspired football to find their feet.
The Saints (who are quite appropriately nicknamed after that performance) have the quality within their ranks to go on and achieve great things this season – in both domestic and European competitions.
