Saturday
proved to be a long day for fans traveling from Manchester down to
Southampton – and by that I mean for 3 Saints supporters: Mack, his
dad, and I. Not the ones causing a ruckus within close proximity for
the first 40 minutes of the match following "Kun" Agüero's
10th minute goal. Apparently my travel companions "eat off the
floor" being from the north? ;D
The
match was a nice celebration for my birthday day-after as my parents
treated me to my first Saints' Premier League fixture as I was home
throughout their first top division campaign and missed out on their
visits to Anfield and Old Trafford early in the 2013/14 season.
It
was the first time I got to see new signings play in person such as
Ramírez, Lovren, Rodriguez, and Dani, as well as youngsters from
Academy -- the likes of Luke Shaw, Callum Chambers, and James
Ward-Prowse. Definitely cool to have heard where Saints were from
Mack and his dad, once in administration, to where they are now
signing players in the realm of £15m and being able to hold
onto talents like Adam Lallana.
Now
in his first full season, the gaffer, Mauricio Pochettino, showcased
the lads have the will to fight their way back into matches -- but
one thing is certain, the team's performance against the top teams is
always one of brilliance. Jack Cork was an absolute beast in the
middle of the park filling in for regular starter, Victor Wanyama
(who actually took his place arriving during the summer window).
Dani
Osvaldo showed why he can be worth his £12m price tag when he
turned Kompany inside-out twice before lofting a curling ball around
City keeper, Costel Pantilimon, in the 42nd minute. It was such a
beaut of a goal that I nearly toppled over into the row in front
jumping up and down celebrating.
City
sniffed the Saints' goal occasionally following Sergio's 10th
minute goal, but Southampton used their position to its full
potential in search of a winner in the second half. Jay Rodriguez
nearly put Saints in front when he clipped through the City
defence to go 1v1 with Pantilimon, but the City keeper did enough to
keep him off the score sheet.
Dejan
Lovren and Jose Fonte are a tremendous pair at the heart of the
Southampton defence. Lovren is a bit more attack minded when he's on
the ball and he has excellent skill to get around players. Fonte has
remained the same stout defender that I remember when I last saw
Southampton in-person.
Luke
Shaw is also a talent that was special to see. He has so much in
front of him at just 18 years old. The same with Ward-Prowse (19
years old) and Chambers (18 years old). The Academy at
Southampton is something to be proud of!
That
was one area I was a bit disappointed by... Joe Hart is an
exceptional talent, but he's hit a rough patch being kept on the
bench and it would've been neat to see him play. But I did get to see
the likes of a World Cup Champion in Jesús Navas, among many
soon-to-be 2014 World Cup participants.
The
point against City leaves Southampton in sole position of 8th place
in the BPL Table with 23 points from the team's 15 games.
Full
time: Southampton FC 1: Manchester City 1
Attendance at St Mary's: 31,229
Southampton
FC starting XI:
Paulo Gazzaniga, Calum Chambers, Luke Shaw, James Ward-Prowse,
Jose Fonte, Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana (→ Ramírez), Jack
Cork, Dani Osvaldo (→ Lambert), Steven Davis (→ Reed),
Jay Rodriguez.
Southampton
FC substitues: Cody
Cropper, Maya Yoshida, Rickie Lambert, Gaston Ramírez, Jos Hooiveld,
Harrison Reed, Sam Gallagher.
Manchester
City starting XI:
Costel Pantilimon, Pablo Zabaleta, Aleksandar Kolarov, Fernandinho,
Vincent Kompany, Martin Demichelis, James Milner (→ Javi Garcia),
Yaya Touré (→ Džeko), Sergio Agüero, Álvaro Negredo
(→ Navas), Samir Nasri.
Manchester
City substitutes: Joe
Hart, Micah Richards, Joleon Lescott, Edin Džeko, Javi
Garcia, Jesús Navas, Gaël Clichy.
