A late goal from Charlie Adam saw Southampton leave the Britannia with no rewards from a tightly fought contest. Even the most optimistic of fans would concede dreams of Champions League football are a long shot with few remaining games and a five point gap on the table to fourth placed Manchester City.
The scoring was opened midway through the first-half when Morgan Schneiderlin tapped in José Fonte’s goal bound header off a Steven Davis corner. The home side replied early in the second, after a cross rebounded off the crossbar and Mame Biram Diouf was fastest to react, poking home the ball. Adam added the deciding goal in the final ten minutes of regulation time.
Stoke end winless run
A 2-0 win at home against Everton in March was the last time that Stoke City were able to notch maximum points. Since then, despite an exciting clash with Chelsea and a close fought tie with West ham last week, they have been unable to secure victory their last four games.
Not as positive for Mark Hughes’ men was their continued inability to shut out the opposition’s attack, having now kept only four clean sheets at home the past 18 games.
Alderweireld injury concern
A disappointing afternoon for Southampton ended with Belgian Toby Alderweireld being stretchered off with a shoulder injury after landing awkwardly on it in the final minutes. Alderweireld has been a utility in Ronald Koeman’s squad, filling the spot left by Dejan Lovren as well as rotations in at right-back and as a defensive midfielder as he was against Stoke.
There is no definite news on how bad the injury is, and how long Alderweireld will be side-lined as a result. Koeman seemed confident that the injury was not too serious, yet conceded that they would have to wait upon scan results.
After a solid season at St Mary’s, questions are being raised about Alderweireld’s future at the club. The centre-back’s loan from Atletico Madrid is set to expire at season’s end and rumours of interest from other clubs, including Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur, are starting to fly about.
Saints bow out of Champions League race?
With five games left to play Southampton’s chances of finishing in the top four and qualifying for Champions League football next season are slim. Far from an impossibility Saints supporters would hope for slip-ups from Liverpool, sitting a point above them, as well as Man City who play West ham tonight at Etihad Stadium.
A win from City would see the Saints drop eight points outside the UCL spots and make the goal seem all the more unattainable. Europa League next season seems a far more realistic target, with the team sitting in the final qualification spot with Tottenham, who pay visit Newcastle overnight, the only contenders within touching distance positioned two points behind. Sixth position is the final guaranteed Europa League spot, but depending on the winner of the FA Cup, seventh spot could be good enough to earn entry.
Regardless, Koeman’s side seem now sure to better their previous league high finishing position of eighth.
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Stoke, on the other hand, look towards achieving their first back to back top ten finishes in the past 40 years. A tight battle in mid table sees Swansea City, Stoke, West Ham, Crystal Palace and Everton fighting for positions eighth through 12th.
Visits from Tottenham and Liverpool the most challenging of the remaining fixtures on paper, though Hughes must be looking at the match against Swansea in a fortnight’s time as a chance to leapfrog their opposition into eighth spot.
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