Shane Long and Dusan Tadic grabbed a goal each as Southampton finally turned promise into three points, overcoming a lacklustre Watford side earlier this morning.
Ronald Koeman will be excited to see his team convert good play into goals. after struggling so often in recent times to transfer their dominance on the pitch to the scoresheet and to bury games while on top. Conversely, Quique Sanchez Flores would have been worried by his side’s lack of creativity and lack of fight in midfield and may be looking to experiment going into the next fixture.
English international Fraser Forster made his return to the starting XI and could not have wished for an easier night facing just one shot on target and having very little else to deal with. The potent combination of Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney failed to spark to life in this contest and the Hornets seemed to have very little else in terms of attacking threat.
Southampton
Fraser Forster – 7.0: Solid on his first-team return from long-term injury, though did not really have too much to do.
Ryan Bertrand – 6.5: Played out of position in a more central-defensive role and did reasonably well.
Virgil van Dijk – 7.0: Dominant at the back.
José Fonte – 7.0: Very little made it through to the Saints captain, but what had to be done he did well.
Cédric Soares – 6.5: Seemed to have a fairly easy game and was withdrawn to be rested rather than anything to do with his performance.
Oriol Romeu – 7.5: Helped the Saints boss the midfield and hassled the opposition throughout.
Jordy Clasie – 7.0: Had things all his own way in midfield and played some very good balls.
Matt Targett – 7.0: Terrific cross in for Long’s goal. A solid game, looked confident.
Steven Davis – 6.5: Very tight offside decision saw his tidy finish rubbed out, reasonable performance.
Sadio Mané – 6.5: Was in around and looked threatening, but ultimately butchered several good chances before being taken out of the game.
Shane Long – 7.0: Pace threatened the Watford defence throughout and a tantalising deft touch saw him open the scoring.
Substitutes
Dusan Tadić – 7.0: Classy finish to secure the three points. Substituted on for Mané in the 71st minute.
Graziano Pelle – N/A: Substituted on for Davis in the 81st minute.
Maya Yoshida – N/A: Replaced Cédric in the 82nd minute.
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Watford
Heurelho Gomes – 6.5: Produced several good saves, but would be unhappy to have been beaten by Tadić’s effort.
Jose Holebas – 6.0: Did some good covering work, though largely struggled to deal with his opponents.
Miguel Britos – 5.0: Seemed out of sorts and struggled before his substitution.
Sebastian Prödl – 6.0: Managed to make a few key interceptions.
Allan Nyom – 5.0: Anonymous throughout proceedings.
Ben Watson – 5.0: Put his defence under pressure on several occasions with loose play.
Etienne Capoue – 5.5: Failed to link up to the higher players and largely relied on ineffective long balls.
José Jurado – 5.0: Stifled on the ball and almost gifted Mané a goal.
Troy Deeney – 5.0: Starved of service and was also able to muster nothing off his own back.
Almen Abdi – 5.5: Could not get anything going and could not find space to try deliver decent balls for his forwards to attack.
Odion Ighalo – 6.0: One of few who was able to get anything at all going for his side but still no real impact on proceedings.
Substitutes
Ikechi Anya – 6.0: Got some service into the box but nothing telling. Substituted on for Abdi in the 61st minute.
Victor Ibarbo – 5.5: Failed to have the required impact coming into the game. Substituted on for Nyom in the 68th minute.
Craig Cathcart – 6.0: Had desire to see his team forward and looked an improvement on Britos. Substituted on for Britos in the 72nd minute.
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