Player Ratings: Southampton 1-2 Fulham

It was a massive game for Fulham and bottom of the table Southampton proved to be the perfect opportunity to push on from those two difficult defeats to Bournemouth and Chelsea. We certainly made a meal of it, and with the fans booing into half time, things looked a little bleak for our European hopes. Marco Silva made some excellent changes in earlier moments than usual and by the skin of our teeth we’re jubilantly marching into next week with three points in the bag, looking to secure that 8th place in the Premier League table. Let’s dive into the good, the bad and the not so ugly performances of the day.

Bernd Leno

Really good all round performance from our German shot-stopper who provided the usual security and stability at the back. Was called upon to make a great couple of diving saves when needed and answered the call heroically, particularly to deny Kyle Walker-Peters powerful effort from close range that was soaring into the top corner. Not the busiest day with just the two saves to make but, as always, super reliable. Not much he could have done to prevent Jack Stephens’ headed opener as it floated into the side of the net. 6.5/10

Kenny Tete

King Kenny had a right handful of a task trying to deal with the pace of Kamaldeen Sulemana and Lesley Ugochukwu bursting forward on the left wing, and we even witnessed Tete being dribbled past and beaten which is usually quite a rare sight. Overall he was solid and it’s so good to see him back in the starting line up following an impressive outing against Chelsea. Timothy Castagne possibly edges in the offensive output and effectiveness but the trade-off of Tete’s defensive capabilities is worthwhile in my opinion. He worked hard and carried the ball well today, the crosses didn’t quite find their man on a few occasions but the effort was there and considering it’s his second match back it was a very valiant performance. 6.5/10

Joachim Andersen 

An understated performance today saw Joachim take a step back and lead the line at the back today while allowing his counterparts to charge forward more frequently. While he was quiet on the ball, gliding the occasional trademark diagonal pass across the pitch, he excelled in his defensive duties. With 13 clearances and three blocks, Andersen won 90% of his aerial battles and proved man-to-man that he can hold his own in protecting the Fulham goal. A solid outing that got us over the line. 7/10

Calvin Bassey

Having completed the most passes in the match (75/78) Calvin has become a force of nature when it comes to driving the ball forward and linking defensive to attacking play, it’s a joy to watch and, similar to Traore, gets the pulse rising. While he hustled and put his strength to good use today as per usual, his defensive numbers were particularly low and there were a few moments he was beaten a little too easily. Firstly for the opening Southampton goal Stephens seemed to run through unchecked for a free header in Bassey’s area and it was disappointing not to see a challenge made in the air. There was also another moment in the second half where Bassey was dribbled past with ease and the Saints smacked the woodwork which would have seen them go 2-0 up and kill the game, so while on the ball he was fantastic, the defensive side of his game could have been a little sharper. 6.5/10

Ryan Sessegnon

Whenever I see our boy Sess on the line up as a left back, I always feel a bit disappointed. We can all see the qualities he brings further up the pitch, but that didn’t seem to bother our main man as he found a way to win the game for us with an excellent run to the near post to perfectly head home the three points in emphatic fashion in the 94th minute. He’s just so reliable and consistent, the fairytale story continues and seeing him kiss the badge after the final whistle is a dream come true. Defensively he was solid, and with Willian further up the field, he had a big task on his hands to cover ground on the pitch that we would usually expect Robbo to deal with. Not so accurate with crosses today but super solid with the ball at his feet and overall deserves the crown on top of his head today for his sheer determination and conviction to win the match. That goal could be a season-defining moment! 8.5/10 Man Of The Match

Sander Berge 

It was a tough one for Sander today, it wasn’t a poor performance and his ability on the ball was impressive with a 96% passing accuracy, however without any tackles being made, you feel Southampton found a way to play around him easily and a slight lack of pace and aggression meant we couldn’t get a foothold on the first half. Silva tried something different with that starting line up and formation but was right to change it to give us more dynamism in the second half, and Berger coming off for Sasa Lukic was the right decision to inject the more proactive energy we needed. If we had opened the scoring it would be a different story but chasing the game meant we needed the change as we struggled to create changes and looked exposed at the back by a charged up home side. One for Berger to move on from and hopefully he’ll play alongside his usual partner in the centre next week. 6/10

Andreas Pereira

It was a pretty un-notable performance from Andres which led to him being subbed off at half time. It was quite typical in the sense of high-energy pressing and a lack of quality in the final ball when it came to corners and free kicks, one painful lofted chip in particular that completely wasted a dangerous chance was tough to watch. He was fine, we just needed to change it up as it wasn’t going anywhere with him playing the way he was and the right call was made. 5.5/10

Alex Iwobi

Alex leaves me scratching my head after most games. I mentioned in the positives and negatives last week against Chelsea that he was the worst player on the pitch, minus the superb goal he scored that nearly gave us a point in a tough fixture. Today gave me similar vibes. He had no chances on target, no successful dribbles and only one out on nine crosses found their target. He lost all five of his aerial and ground duels and didn’t land a single tackle, creating only one chance all game. It just so happened, that chance was an exceptional lofted pass over the Southampton defence which fell right to the feet of Emile Smith Rowe to setup up a beautiful opener. The two ex-Arsenal players clearly have excellent chemistry and it was brilliant vision from Iwobi to pick him out. So am I happy or frustrated with his performance? Great question. 6/10

Willian

Our Brazilian winger really tried to make things happen, and similar to the Crystal Palace game, was one of the only players attacking more directly. We saw a tidy shot curl from outside of the box round the wrong side of the post, and in the second half a similar chance well-struck skimmed the frame of the woodwork. Very unlucky not to have a goal to his name. However his lack of energy up and down that wing, particularly highlighted with a lack of Antonee Robinson, left me feeling we were a little exposed at times or lacking pace. He’s doing a remarkable job for 36-year-old winger back in the Premier League, but the modern game is so pace-heavy out wide that I would rather he came off the bench for us in future. 6/10

Harry Wilson

There certainly wasn’t a lack of effort from Harry, and this was an excellent chance to get some much needed minutes into Wilson’s legs ahead of a crucial end of season period for the whites after his long-term injury. Though I have to say in hindsight, it felt a little too soon and he’s certainly not anywhere near back to his best. It seemed as if he struggled to create any threatening chances in particular or provide much danger so it’s hard to give him much credit, but you can’t just expect him to return to the pace and tenacity of the top league and be ready to go. I’m looking forward to him sharpening up and hopefully giving us another magical moment against Brentford in a few weeks time! 6/10

Raul Jimenez

I think we’re all getting the sense that Raul’s legs are tiring a little towards the end of the season, and these last two fixtures have highlighted this in particular. I feel we’re very exposed with Rodrigo Muniz out of action as we’re relying on the Mexican frontman even more, and while there’s no denying his effort and link up play, the sting seems to have been taken out of his tail as he proved a bit ineffective in front of goal. As always, he put himself about and got himself involved in build up play well, sometimes out wide on the wings, but he wasn’t the solution to our issues in front of goal today or against Chelsea. Hopefully Muniz will be back soon so we can enjoy our dynamic duo swapping as needed. It does make me question whether renewing his contract for next season is the right decision and I’m sure the club are considering this too, he’d be a great asset as a second or third striker, but as he’s earning £100k-a-week, it feels a little luxurious for a player in a back up position. 5.5/10

Substitutes

Sasa Lukic (45′ for Berger)

Sasa was exactly what we needed in this match at the right time. It wasn’t that Berge was particularly poor, we were just desperately in need of some additional pace, aggression and tidy football as the game was getting away from us. He came in and was the heart and engine of the team and the Fulham comeback, nullifying Southampton to great effect and ticking possession along nicely with 91% passing accuracy, great job Sasa! 7.5/10

Adama Traore (45′ for Andreas)

Speaking of needing an increased aggression and control, Traore was revelationary off the bench for so many reasons. With some tidy ball control, he loved having the ball and taking it forward in dangerous areas, taking on defenders with tidy touches and spreading the play around the team in attacking areas really effectively, leading to him earning a well-deserved assist with a tidy lofted cross to Sess. He proved to be far too much for the Saints to deal with, who even had to double up on him towards the closing stages of the game, opening up spaces in other areas of the box. It was almost a perfect performance aside from the odd bit of play, and this is the man we want to see week-in-week-out. A game-changing, match-winning performance from the big man. 8/10

Emile Smith Rowe (68′ for Willian)

We know ESR isn’t going to press like Andreas, so his role in the team is so reliant on exceptional bits of play that can change the outcome of matches in our favour, and today we saw exactly that. Joining the field of play on the 68th minute, Emile added a subtle bit of class and creativity to the attacking play which led to our crucial equalizer. While the finish was a deflected strike that nudged it past Aaron Ramsdale, the touch to bring down Iwobi’s lofted ball and set himself up was world-class. That’s the kind of moment you just can’t get from your average player, and it felt like he needed that goal just as much as the team which will hopefully raise his confidence levels. He also had another superb shot at the edge of the box which the keeper tipped round the post which could have won the game earlier. An excellent outing today, more please. 7.5/10

Tom Cairney / Carlos Vinicius (86′ for Alex Iwobi and Raul Jiminez)

Didn’t play long enough to have a great impact, but Cairney did feed the ball out wide through to Adama to set up the match-winning assist.

Manager

Marco Silva showed his magic today. While the first half was poor to say the least, and the setup was a little questionable, he shone through with his excellent half-time changes as discussed above. It was really refreshing that we didn’t see hesitant substitutions coming too late in the game, he was very direct with the swaps at the break and they were executed to perfection. The introduction of Smith Rowe was also exactly what the team needed at that time in the game and it paid off. Again, you have to feel a little sympathy for Marco, with Robinson disappearing out of the line-up seemingly out of nowhere alongside Muniz’ ongoing injury. He got the job done, just about, and managed the game very well in the end. I would much rather go into the second half strong then watch our performances drop as we saw against our rivals last weekend, and Silva deserves a lot of praise for his reactions today to keep our ambitions alive. 8/10