Southampton lose yet again to a bottom three club, Swansea away from home. A goal and an assist from Gylfi Sigurðsson was enough to rule out Shane Long’s equaliser in the second half.
Saints started the game well, like they have most games this season, getting in behind Swansea’s back line with ease for the first 15 to 20 minutes. However, Swansea grew into the game and managed to go head just before the end of the first-half. At this point Swansea were the better side and thoroughly deserved to take the lead, with Saints looking very sluggish in the first 45 minutes.
In the second-half the game changed, with Saints dominating possession and creating good chances for Nathan Redmond, who could have done a lot better with a few chances, but Shane Long finally put the ball in the net with a fairly simple but effective move as a cross from Ryan Bertrand was driven across the penalty box for Long to tap home.
Saints looked dominant after that and a second goal was looking imminent for the south coast side, especially as Sofiane Boufal came on and created a lot with his silky flair, getting into good positions and threatening. However, no-one could get that second goal for Southampton.
Swansea then undeservedly took the lead through a fast counter attack from a poor Southampton corner. The ball got played out to new signing Luciano Narsingh, who held the ball up in the box, waiting for star man Gylfi Sigurðsson to squeeze it past Fraser Forster.
Saints were very unlucky to lose this game; a draw would of been a fair result. With the injuries we do have, a draw would have been acceptable from a game like this. There were positives on show. The attacking play in the second-half was promising, and I believe once we get players like James Ward-Prowse and Virgil van Dijk back, Claude Puel can lead us to a strong end of the season.
Puel will come good for us; there are signs of that happening. We just need to give the boss time. We’ve been lucky with Ronald Koeman and Mauricio Pochettino who have come in and made an instant impact. It was bound to be a challenge for Puel as he plays a slightly different style to them also, which the players need to adapt to. Sometimes things take time, and teams have a poor season – just look at Chelsea last year. These things happen, we just have to stick to Puel and give him at least one more year.
