Had all of the possession in the first chance, but couldn't turn it into any real chances. We scored -- Lallana at the back post -- but it was given off-side, either incorrectly on Lallana, or perhaps correctly on Rodriguez (didn't touch the ball, but was well offside and went for the header). West Brom bossed most of the second half, but same story: they didn't get any great chances, and our defense was rather composed. Shaw went on a little burst into the box, Mulumbu stuck out a leg from behind a tripped him up, and Rickie slotted. Baggies then had a couple chances in stoppage time to win, with Boruc making an absolutely ridiculous reaction save at full stretch on a low shot.
The Lambert factor is making us world-famous: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/08/17/2711408/southampton-beats-west-brom-with.html? I don't think Idaho is a particular hotbed of Saints supporters but it might become one now. Send the some shirts Nicola!
All I can do is quote Merson!!!?! Saints played well, were very patient, deserved to win and if they continue like this we will be top half. He thought Lovren and Wanyama were very good...Wanyama a monster that he couldn't understand why a bigger club hadn't come in for him (Grrrr!). Said Shaw just gets better and better.
Great bit of work by the BBC "A draw was looming before Mulumbu stuck out a leg and sent Shaw, on his league debut, tumbling".
Just aggregated content from the Associated Press, lots of news sites do this and nobody at the Idaho Statesman will have had any input into that so I wouldn't expect to see it getting into their print edition for example.
Watching the game, I kind of half expected it, yet was girding myself against WBA bundling one in the net. I'm also holding myself back slightly because it's clear that Saints need more capable firepower. Rickie can finish, but we need another as capable as him.
Like Ramirez I presume he was considered not fit enough to start, and understandably they didn't want to disrupt the defence by changing a centre-back. Puncheon's a mystery, I guess he must have picked up a knock or he surely would have been on the bench.
Watched the whole game live in a sports bar here in Dubai - taken as a direct feed from Sky coverage - so had the benefit of instant replys et al. Strong first half performance - Lallana's goal was offside - his own fault because he had the last defender inside of him and had no excuses not to have kept himself level with that last defender. WBA came out the stronger in the second half and overran us at times but the back-four kept their shape (impressive when you think of the ages of the full backs and little playing experience they all have together) and looked very composed. We would have probably lost this game last season because of our frail defence. But now we have more confidence in our side and it showed. We did not 'mug them' - we did enough to win and these are the matches we need to win to finish in the top ten.
Forgot to add that the penalty was a little soft - seen them given - seen them refused. But a 0-1 victory was a fair result.
No, their contract was up at the end of last season. Hold your breath... THE SUN have the rights now. They have their own goals app, which you have to pay for (i think)
Anyway, just get on instagram, there are about 10 videos of Rickie's penalty on there. Some captures from the telly, others from fans in the crowd.
For more than an hour after the game, their write-up on QPR's match read: Understandable that Reading did not create many clear chances, as QPR was playing Ipswich.
