Southampton put in a rather lacklustre performance in a 0-0 draw against relegation contenders Hull City at St Mary’s.
Hull had only picked up five points away from home prior to their game against the Saints but were still fighting against the drop. Southampton still had something to play for too though, with Claude Puel’s men looking to push for an eighth placed finish.
The first chance of real note came after another questionably shaky moment from Fraser Forster, as he let the ball run across his body before poorly clearing, which led to a free-kick for a foul on Lazar Markovic from Steven Davis. Poland international Kamil Grosicki stepped up and hit the outside of the post from the resulting free kick.
Three minutes after the break, Southampton had their first opportunity as a ball from Davis found Cedric Soares on the right hand side, whose cross found Sofiane Boufal who was in plenty of space on the edge of the box. However Boufal attempted to dribble past a couple of players, as opposed to shoot, and he lost the ball.
Hull City had a penalty shout waved away after 75 minutes as Jack Stephens appeared to be grappling Harry Maguire’s shirt during a corner.
Some lovely work down the left hand side between Ryan Bertrand and Nathan Redmond led to a low cross towards Dusan Tadic who was open before an outstanding, goal-saving tackle from the skipper Maguire.
Tadic was gifted another chance, as Jakupovic poorly punched Davis’ corner, but his powerful shot was straight at the Hull man’s chest.
Southampton themselves were awarded a penalty in the dying stages of the game as Tadic’s cross went past every player, however Mike Dean judged that Maya Yoshida was pulled down by Alfred N’Diaye. The resulting penalty was taken and missed by Tadic, who had previously missed a penalty this season too.
The game ended as a rather dull 0-0 draw. The Saints were booed off both at half-time and full-time. With games against the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United on the horizon, should Saints fans be worried about a possible continuation of poor performances?
If the games are on a Saturday they should, as statistics show that Southampton haven’t won a single game at home on a Saturday.
