One goal from Stoke City was enough to help them win away at St.Mary’s against Southampton and end the Saints’ six match unbeaten run.
Stoke full-back Erik Pieters set up the goal which was eventually put home by former Barcelona player Bojan in the 10th minute. Even before that, Southampton’s Dusan Tadic had a chance to score but it went wide. The Serbian was one of the better players for the Saints on the day. For Stoke, the defenders were not troubled that much but in offence the attackers were not at their best.
Bojan had a few chances to complete a brace in this game, but could not do so. Still, he was one of the best players on the pitch in this game. Southampton’s in-form Italian Graziano Pelle failed to score after a couple of chances but they did not go his way. He was especially unlucky when Stoke defender Philipp Wollscheid pulled him to the ground. Shane Long was also unfortunate after a penalty was not given for a heavy bump from Marko Arnautovic.
Former Bayern Munich wide midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri could have scored along with Marko Arnautovic. They did well to get into a good position, but their finishing was poor. The defending from Southampton was not at its best but the fact that they only conceded one goal was somewhat lucky. They are normally better as only a handful of teams in the Premier League have a better defensive record.
Ronald Koeman has admitted that his team were “not good enough” but their fans might not be too upset considering they have only dropped one place to eighth. On the other hand, Stoke City supporters will be very happy after moving to 10th. Their team has had a poor start to the season but they will of course be expecting more from their manager.
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