Saints 2 Inter Milan 1

He is a clown of a defender, he was suspended for our game there but I thought his replacement (Murilo) did really well, so I was surprised he started last night.

Miranda's first five or so touches yesterday gave me a warm fuzzy glow inside as he found touch or Saints players repeatedly too...

Ah, the free-kick for the diving header and "raised foot", he should have given it for the defender flinging himself through Rodriguez but that could have been a penalty, so awarded a laughable dangerous play against Saints instead.

 

He did also give a couple of really weak dives, the two instances when McQueen barely touched Inter defenders when running behind them, and they "Skaceled". There was a blatant foul on Van Dijk as they went down the line before their goal, the penalty we got was soft, and he didn't give a couple of obvious holding offences from corners on Van Dijk either.

 

And you're absolutely spot on with the advantages, all three he gave (one for them too) were no kind of advantage and should all have been pulled back. His arm waving also wasn't clear, and at one point he also insisted on giving Inter a free-kick when Medel was in 10 yards of space from the loose ball with Saints' defence stretched because he chose NOT to give an obvious advantage. So he was basically cack all round.

Not to mention how late in the second half he blew for a free kick to us in their half and we played on and he let us! Presumably he thought the first pass after the foul was us taking the free-kick but the ball was definitely moving and i don't think any of our players knew he'd blown for it, a complete mess from the first whistle to the last.

What a night.

Best atmosphere at St Marys in a long time. Special night.

Thought VVD and JWP were brilliant. But a special mention to Maya who I thought was superb, gets a lot of criticism but he was very solid last night.

Final mention to Inter, a terrible team. How they have fallen. Also interesting how none of there players went to their fans after - which is sh!t

Not to mention how late in the second half he blew for a free kick to us in their half and we played on and he let us! Presumably he thought the first pass after the foul was us taking the free-kick but the ball was definitely moving and i don't think any of our players knew he'd blown for it, a complete mess from the first whistle to the last.

The worst one was the "advantage" he allowed for Rodriguez's shot reasonably early on, when the striker had already hesitated expecting the free-kick to be given and then hit a tame half-not-expecting-it-to-count shot only for the ref to not call it back. Admittedly he should play to the whistle, but the ref showed later on he was making it up as he went.

A very enjoyable evening and what a dramatic match. It started well when I was walking from the railway station with my grandson and met a group of Inter fans unsure of where to go. We walked a chatted for a while and one of them gave his Inter scarf to my grandson. Thanks whoever you are.

The trip over there, and both matches is a good reminder of how enjoyable it can be to be involved in European football, especially after all the club has been through. Let's hope for some goals for, and a win in Prague; we have failed to score in four of the last five away European games I have been to.

Spurs wouldn't have developed Kane if not for the chance to play him in the EL - it's great for development, albeit with one or two availability issues in the shorter term.

I agree. I don't think some people appreciate how difficult it must be for a centre half (Yoshida is on my mind here) to not play for weeks, and then slot in during a Premier League game and play to his full ability. Yoshida is now playing almost weekly and is putting in some brilliant performances, i'm sure it's not a coincidence.

The worst one was the "advantage" he allowed for Rodriguez's shot reasonably early on, when the striker had already hesitated expecting the free-kick to be given and then hit a tame half-not-expecting-it-to-count shot only for the ref to not call it back. Admittedly he should play to the whistle, but the ref showed later on he was making it up as he went.

Going off on a tangent a bit, but as you mention "playing to the whistle", there was one point in the second half our players appealed that the ball had gone out for a throw (along with a few thousand supporters). It wasn't given, and we all stood about while Inter played on and nearly scored.

 

Final mention to Inter, a terrible team. How they have fallen. Also interesting how none of there players went to their fans after - which is sh!t

We noticed as well how at each of their 3 substitutions not one fan clapped, cheered, booed or anything, nor any of the players coming on or off made any effort to gesture or look towards the fans at all. Not sure if this is standard in Italy, or just that the relationship between the players and fans has crumbled to this sorry state of affairs.

The time the ref blew the whistle for a foul but then Saints played on was amazing ( as outlined by saintwbu above in post #203) - how does that happen at this level?! He was such a bad all round ref. Really takes an impressive performance for both sets of fans to dislike the ref!

Just got back from the game. What a stonking evening. Can someone pinch me? No voice left. We march on!

 

Sam McQueen my MotM (where do we keep finding these gems from?!)

I thought there was no atmosphere from what I've read on here. Were you yelling at people to sit down or to teach them songs?!

can only assume to avoid being cuptied

But he was on the bench, right? Can't imagine that being cuptied was the reason

Full 90 minutes replay here for anyone who wants to relive last night in all its glory: http://www.fullmatchesandshows.com/2016/11/03/southampton-vs-inter-highlights-full-match/3/

From block 3 - 38, from 0mins to 65mins, it weren't great. All about levels of expectation.

 

At least Inter brought some actual proper support, better than expected from them.

Listening on the radio, Blackmore talked about amazing atmosphere from the beginning

Another laughable point was when the Northam kept the ball in the stand whilst Fraser waited for the ball back, a second ball gets finally kicked towards him and as soon as he picks it up the ref is on his case for timewasting as if it was his fault in any way.

And yet he said nothing all game to Inter timewasting from the very first minute, every time the ball went dead

Full 90 minutes replay here for anyone who wants to relive last night in all its glory: http://www.fullmatchesandshows.com/2016/11/03/southampton-vs-inter-highlights-full-match/3/

Recommend you watch from 60th minute onwards

Recommend you watch from 60th minute onwards

Yes, from when Austin came on. There was the pre-Austin part of the game when we never looked like scoring and the post-Austin part when we did. Most of our games seem to be like that. Our team only really seems to have self-belief that it can score goals when Austin is on the pitch.

Yes, from when Austin came on. There was the pre-Austin part of the game when we never looked like scoring and the post-Austin part when we did. Most of our games seem to be like that. Our team only really seems to have self-belief that it can score goals when Austin is on the pitch.

nail/head

Yes, from when Austin came on. There was the pre-Austin part of the game when we never looked like scoring and the post-Austin part when we did. Most of our games seem to be like that. Our team only really seems to have self-belief that it can score goals when Austin is on the pitch.

I thought we were decent in the first 10-15 minutes, when Rodriguez was heavily involved and had a couple of half-decent chances, but then he suddenly went off the boil and the majority of the rest of the first half felt like we were effectively playing with ten men - I got the sense that his team-mates knew he was struggling and as a result lacked the confidence to look for him, which meant we were much more predictable and easy to defend against.

Ah, the free-kick for the diving header and "raised foot", he should have given it for the defender flinging himself through Rodriguez but that could have been a penalty, so awarded a laughable dangerous play against Saints instead.

 

He did also give a couple of really weak dives, the two instances when McQueen barely touched Inter defenders when running behind them, and they "Skaceled". There was a blatant foul on Van Dijk as they went down the line before their goal, the penalty we got was soft, and he didn't give a couple of obvious holding offences from corners on Van Dijk either.

 

And you're absolutely spot on with the advantages, all three he gave (one for them too) were no kind of advantage and should all have been pulled back. His arm waving also wasn't clear, and at one point he also insisted on giving Inter a free-kick when Medel was in 10 yards of space from the loose ball with Saints' defence stretched because he chose NOT to give an obvious advantage. So he was basically cack all round.

His arm-waving was so unclear that it looked to me like Virgil thought for a split second that his goal had been disallowed...

Yes, from when Austin came on. There was the pre-Austin part of the game when we never looked like scoring and the post-Austin part when we did. Most of our games seem to be like that. Our team only really seems to have self-belief that it can score goals when Austin is on the pitch.

Big reason for the own goal too in my view. He knew Austin was near him and almost certain to convert, panicked and put it in his own net. Inter panicked as a team when Austin came on and Saints had a lot more confidence.

Big reason for the own goal too in my view. He knew Austin was near him and almost certain to convert, panicked and put it in his own net. Inter panicked as a team when Austin came on and Saints had a lot more confidence.

Could have quoted a few post for this but I thought Davis upped the tempo a huge amount when he came on!

I loved it last night particularly as being so disappointed in Milan. I actually thought we were better in Milan but no matter a great win last night. How priceless to have been to the San Siro with my son and then a fortnight later watched us beat Inter Milan at St Mary's!

Puel got lucky though - wtf was he thinking resting players for Hull City. Absolutely ridiculous management despite the result. Alpine totally justified in his half time comment.

Funny then that JWP, McQueen and Yoshida (brought in for those rested) were all within our best 5 players on the night.

Puel got it right as he has most of the season.

Full 90 minutes replay here for anyone who wants to relive last night in all its glory: http://www.fullmatchesandshows.com/2016/11/03/southampton-vs-inter-highlights-full-match/3/

Cheers. Looking back confirms our defence was so lax at times! A team with confidence would have punished us.

Cheers. Looking back confirms our defence was so lax at times! A team with confidence would have punished us.

not sure i agree with that. decent players will always create some chances during a game.

Another laughable point was when the Northam kept the ball in the stand whilst Fraser waited for the ball back, a second ball gets finally kicked towards him and as soon as he picks it up the ref is on his case for timewasting as if it was his fault in any way.

 

And yet he said nothing all game to Inter timewasting from the very first minute, every time the ball went dead

Why do people post carp just to make a point? The ref spoke directly to their keeper in the first 5 minutes and again later, he spoke to their captain about timewasting in the first half and he gave the hurry up sign several times at throw-ins. He also indicated to their keeper take a goal kick from where he had it on the right of the six yard box rather than walk over to his preferred side on the left (never seen that before, not sure it's technically in his power to do that but it seemed to work ok!).

Despite all the refs faults and what you think of the Inter team 'time wasting' as such wasn't a factor in that game, I would suggest the ball was in play every bit as much as a regular PL game. If you want to see real time wasting you should have been at the away game!

The ref was s**t though, how Candreva got away with that I'll never know.

Full 90 minutes replay here for anyone who wants to relive last night in all its glory: http://www.fullmatchesandshows.com/2016/11/03/southampton-vs-inter-highlights-full-match/3/

Many thanks

not sure i agree with that. decent players will always create some chances during a game.

Of course, but it was too easy at times. There were a couple of occasions in the second half where the winger would waltz around a couple of players who were throwing legs out too late, then put in a really dangerous looking ball to no one. At our best we would have closed the space and pushed them back inside, as we generally do very well against the best teams.

Why do people post carp just to make a point? The ref spoke directly to their keeper in the first 5 minutes and again later, he spoke to their captain about timewasting in the first half and he gave the hurry up sign several times at throw-ins. He also indicated to their keeper take a goal kick from where he had it on the right of the six yard box rather than walk over to his preferred side on the left (never seen that before, not sure it's technically in his power to do that but it seemed to work ok!).

 

Despite all the refs faults and what you think of the Inter team 'time wasting' as such wasn't a factor in that game, I would suggest the ball was in play every bit as much as a regular PL game. If you want to see real time wasting you should have been at the away game!

This! How there were 5 minutes of injury time at the San Siro and 4 at St Mary's is mindboggling!

If the ref had called a penalty for Virgil getting tackled in the box on every set piece, there could have been a record number of goals scored in a Europa game. Virgil must have told the ref 6 or 7 times to watch what was going on.