Southampton Player Ratings: West Brom (H)
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Southampton papered over the cracks against West Brom thanks to a magnificent solo effort from Sofiane Boufal.
Mauricio Pellegrino made just one change to the side that drew against Newcastle last weekend. Steven Davis came in to replace Nathan Redmond.
Chances came at a premium throughout, and Saints came closest through Ryan Bertrand’s first-half free-kick, which came off the woodwork.
West Brom had a good chance to score in the second half as ex-Saint Jay Rodriguez raced clear of the defenders, before rushing his shot, seeing it fly well wide of the post.
However, a moment of magic was enough to win what was a dire game, truth be told, and it came from Boufal.
The Moroccan took the ball from deep inside his own half to skip past several West Brom players, before coolly converting in Ben Foster’s bottom left corner to hand his side all three points.
Here are our Southampton player ratings from the match.
Fraser Forster - 5
Perhaps the most unconvincing goalkeeper in the league right now. Can’t claim crosses, can’t kick, can’t find consistency. We’re fortunate that West Brom were even worse going forward than we were.
Cedric Soares - 6
A solid game from Cedric on the right. Supported attacks well and got stuck in.
Virgil van Dijk - 7
Van Dijk was much improved from the draw with Newcastle. He was commanding in the air, put his body on the line and was good throughout.
Maya Yoshida - 6
Yoshida was steady throughout. He kept West Brom’s strikers quiet.
Ryan Bertrand - 8
By far his best performance of the season. Played with drive, determination, and delivered several good balls into the box.
Oriol Romeu - 6
Romeu was rather quiet in the first half but stepped it up a gear in the second. Was sacrificed for Nathan Redmond in a somewhat bizarre move by Pellegrino.
Mario Lemina - 8
Lemina retrieved the ball on several occasions, drove forward well, and was consistently energetic.
Dusan Tadic - 6
Could have done with releasing the ball a little quicker, and not flailing about in the area trying to win a penalty. Looked sharp at times.
Steven Davis - 6
Davis swept up loose balls and helped the team to turn defence into attack.He was somewhat quiet but did his job well.
Shane Long - 5
Not great. Manolo Gabbiadini made a lung-busting run only for Long to fluff his lines from close range. That wasn’t unexpected, though.
Manolo Gabbiadini - 6
A quiet one for Gabbiadini but as per, the service to him really wasn’t great. He contributed to the team’s performance well, though.
Substitutes
Nathan Redmond – 5 – Forgot he was playing.
Charlie Austin – 5 – Likewise, didn’t really do all that much.
Sofiane Boufal – 10 – He won us the game through bravery, quality and individuality. He’s been bemoaned for being “greedy” but he’s capable of moments like that. What a phenomenal goal to cap a faultless cameo appearance.
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