Southampton 0-0 Stoke City: Match Report
Southampton failed to pick up the three points in another must-win game, where they had the majority of the chances against fellow relegation contenders Stoke City.
Mauricio Pellegrino brought Josh Sims into the starting line-up, following his impressive performance off the bench against Burnley, yet the goalscorer Manolo Gabbiadini remained benched. James Ward-Prowse, who has been in amazing form, was the player to make way.
Stoke had the best chance of the first half, which came on the brink of half-time, as Shaqiri’s cross found Ndiaye on the penalty spot, but his header was fantastically saved by McCarthy,
Just past the hour mark, Redmond’s cross was cleared as far as Cedric on the edge of the penalty area, whose goal-bound shot was well saved by Butland.
Moments later Redmond had a pot-shot from outside the penalty area, which was once again, saved by the England goalkeeper.
Five minutes later, Southampton should’ve taken the lead through substitute Sofiane Boufal. Redmond drove down the right wing and his cross found Boufal who had a free header in front of the goal, it was harder to miss than score, yet the Morrocan couldn’t find the back of the net.
This disappointing result means that Southampton find themselves 17th, only one point outside the relegation zone, and now their next five games, are all away games including Arsenal, Swansea and Wigan in the FA Cup.
Southampton XI: Alex McCarthy, Cedric, Wesley Hoedt, Jack Stephens, Ryan Bertrand, Mario Lemina, Oriol Romeu, Josh Sims, Dusan Tadic, Nathan Redmond, Guido Carrillo.
Stoke City XI: Jack Butland, Kostas Stafylidis, Bruno Martins Indi, Kurt Zouma, Moritz Bauer, Geoff Cameron, Eric Maxim Choupo Moting, Badou Ndiaye, Joe Allen, Xherdan Shaqiri, Mame Biram Diouf.