Friday night was a bad day at the office for Southampton, beaten convincingly 3-1 by their south coast neighbours Bournemouth on home soil.
Ten minutes into the contest at St Mary’s and the visitors had taken the lead through defender Nathan Ake, who found himself unmarked as he entered the box to head home Diego Rico’s well-taken corner.
Just 25 minutes later and it was 2-0 to the Cherries, this time Liverpool loanee Harry Wilson finding the net. It would have been more, too, had Josh King’s goal not been correctly ruled out by VAR prior to Wilson’s finish.
With the hosts stunned, a reaction was needed after the break. While James Ward-Prowse’s second-half penalty gave the Saints a glimmer of hope, Eddie Howe’s men held out right until the 95th minute, when Callum Wilson capitalised on some defensive confusion and poked home Bournemouth’s third of the evening. 3-1 – game over.
Despite a calamitous showing from the Saints, which saw them dominate the possession stats and take 19 more shots than their opponents (via FlashScores), midfielder Oriol Romeu is one of the few players who can hold his head high with his personal performance on Friday night.
The Spaniard was undoubtedly Southampton’s best player, making a total of 10 tackles, two interceptions, three key passes and four accurate through balls (via WhoScored). He was also awarded an overall rating of 7.70/10 by WhoScored – more than any other Saints player on the pitch – showing experience in the centre of the park.
Unfortunately, Romeu’s performance alone wasn’t enough to steer the Saints clear of defeat, though he can take pride in his contribution at St Mary’s, and will now look to build on it this week when the club face rivals Portsmouth away in the EFL Cup.
Saints fans, what did you make of Romeu’s performance on Friday night? Let us know by commenting below!
