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Saints At Millwall The Verdict
Wednesday, 27th Aug 2014 08:15

Saints are through to the 3rd round of the Capital One Cup as two players got their first ever goals for the club in a well deserved win at Millwall.

Jack Cork and Graziano Pelle gave Saints a 2-0 win at Millwall in the Capital One Cup with both celebrating their first ever goals for the club, but where this was only Pelle's third competitive game for the club, this was Cork's 139th time of asking including games played in his loan spell at St Mary's back in 2008/09 season.

Ronald Koeman showed that he is taking the cup competitions seriously making only three changes from the side that drew with West Brom on Saturday, however if he thought it would guarantee him passage through to the next round he was to be wrong and in fairness despite looking fairly comfortable in the first half it was the home side who should have gone in ahead at the break after a flurry of chances just before half time.

Jack Cork on as sub at half time was the match winner as he headed home from a Tadic corner on 53 minutes to settle Saints nerves and they could have doubled their lead when Pelle shaved a post from a header.

Indeed it looked as if the centre forward would again have no goal to show for his efforts despite responding to his managers call for more effort and agression from him, but in injury time he opened his account for the club, latching on to a through ball and springing the offside trap and coolly slotting home past the keeper.

It was the ggoal that Pelle needed, indeed just the type of goal he needed to show the Saints fans that despite the worry of some he has got what it takes to score goals in this country.

But this game was not just about getting through to the next round, for their own confidene Saints had to get a win under their belts and they did so, but it was more than that, for some players it was about showing the fans they have what it takes.

For Jack Cork it was about showing that he is worth a new contract, for Graziano Pelle it was about showing that he could score goals and for Matt Targett it was about showing that he can be the next big star on the Saints conveyor belt as he put in a tidy performance at left back in his debut for the club.

Saints march on into the next round and although it was perhaps not the comprehensive win that Ronald Koeman was hoping for, that was just about the only thing that was slightly disappointing on the night.

Photo: Action Images



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SaintGeorge added 08:31 - Aug 27
Did you watch a different game Nick? "despite looking fairly comfortable in the first half..."
fairly comfortable???? The first half was one of the worst performances in years - scarcely a pass completed (because of wayward kicking or an inability to trap the ball) , no shots (on or off target), and Millwall getting the space to make themselves look like Saints did last year - all pass & move. Our best hope seemed to be hit it long (and inaccurately) to Long, who was atrocious, in the wrong place every time, with nothing created in midfield whatsoever...

... until Tadic came on. That changed the game, and with Cork as well Southampton finally found some composure. Tadic has to be central to everything from now on - he's way better than Lallana, and seems to give the team all the stability and creativity we lost over the summer. It came together as soon as he ran out. Great to see Pellè score ,but Shane Long? What a calamity. We scored as soon as he went off.

Anyway, all in all, an enjoyable second half but good grief the first 45 minutes were dog toilet. Really really depressing.
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schatfield added 08:36 - Aug 27
agree with George, the first half was akin to something swimming in the toilet bowl...
Some comments. Forster looks great still, Isgrove looks like he would blow away in the wind, way too lightweight, the fans were really willing on Pelle to score, he had a ton of chances and should have had more (reminds me of a younger Heskey), Long isn't good and 12m - yikes, they pulled down our trousers for that!

But 2nd half, defense good, midfield good and lovely build up play, but we often ran out of ideas in final third
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IanRC added 09:00 - Aug 27
Why is Jack Cork not a regular first team player revolving with Morgan, Wanyama and Steve Davies. Baffling as he is a great positive force for the team. Would rather look elsewhere than lose Morgan to spurs, particularly for Townsend.
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montecristo added 09:47 - Aug 27
where was Morgan last night?? Clasie not in his team either, has a deal been done??
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halftimeorange added 10:52 - Aug 27
Our first half performance was as bad as the second half against WBA although Millwall, apart from Jermaine Easter, didn't pose much of a threat. We presented a largely ineffective, imbalanced midfield. For a start JWP should play wide right with Shane Long feeding off Pelle. It was interesting to note that once the (soon to be departed?) Jack Cork came on it not only had a settling effect but both Davies, in particular, and Tadic suddenly improved. Forster was comfortable, apart from one rather strange punch out but, first half, largely employed route one kicking to Pelle which patently failed to work. As for Pelle himself I'll give the bloke his due, after a succession of slips, misplaced headers, miskicks et al, he responded to the fantastic encouragement of us travelling fans by slotting home - and wasn't he delighted. Nice, also, to see Yoshida put in a competent shift and Targett did himself no harm at all. Millwall, however, are way off PL opposition but a win will help the confidence and Gaston looked interested for his cameo.
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BaselSaint added 11:30 - Aug 27
Appreciate the reports everyone - couldn't get a streaming link last night. Thanks.
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SaintDownUnder added 12:44 - Aug 27
I think this might turn out to be a significant win for saints.

Firstly, it's a win, that monkey is off our back. let's also hope Pele kicks on and goes on a run now with renewed confidence and proves the retarded boo boys wrong.

I also love Koemans view of the world, reckon he sums up the performances well (he basically called our first half toilet too). This tells me his judgement on players and what they need to do to improve is spot on too. Let's hope Cork pushes for a starting spot with Spider and Wanyama in midfield he's too good to sit on the bench.

Another clean sheet too, that's again something for us to build on.

It feels like we're starting to build, like I say last night could turn out to be significant.
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Alehouse added 16:17 - Aug 27
Things changed when Cork came on for Wanyama. We need Cork, Schneiderlin and Davis in midfield to win games. They were outstanding last year.

Wanyama needs too many touches and goes backwards too often. He was largely responsible for the slow build up and consequent long ball tactics in the West Brom game. By the time he had given the ball to a defender West Brom had 11 men in their own half.
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leighsaint added 19:34 - Aug 27
I said before but I think Wanyama should play at centre half he's wasted in midfield
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