Southampton Compound Leicester Woes
Leicester City remain winless away from home in the Premier League this season after being completely outclassed by Southampton at St Mary’s.
Claude Puel’s hosts, defeated in each of their past four league games, dominated from the first whistle and deservedly went ahead through James Ward-Prowse’s first goal in 22 games.
Ward-Prowse’s free-kick helped set up the second for Jay Rodriguez, before Dusan Tadic’s late penalty set the seal on a one-sided victory.
Champions Leicester have now gone 11 games without an away league victory this season – having won 11 times on their travels en route to the title. The 37 goals they have conceded in 22 games so far is one more than the total shipped in the whole of last season.
Defeat leaves Claudio Ranieri’s side three places and five points above the relegation zone.
Southampton climb to 11th place having comfortably avoided the ignominy of equalling the club’s top-flight record of five consecutive defeats, set in 1998.
Southampton’s first goal was a delightful team effort. Starting with a throw-in on the left wing, play was switched by Van Dijk to the right, where Soares played a one-two with Redmond before advancing and crossing low for Ward-Prowse to provide a crisp first-time finish
In the corresponding fixture last season, Southampton also took a 2-0 lead into the break before a Jamie Vardy double saw Leicester to deserved draw/
The point won that day was the seventh the Foxes had earned from a losing position in the first nine games of the season, and was an early clue that they were a little bit special.
“We have fantastic spirit,” Ranieri said after that match. “We believe everything could be possible.”
Fast forward to this season and the mood in the Leicester camp could hardly be more contrasting.
A few darting runs by Demarai Gray aside, Ranieri’s men seldom threatened Fraser Forster’s goal, and the two goals conceded before the interval did not come close to galvanising the visitors in the way it had 15 months earlier. Tadic’s penalty only compounded their misery.
If Leicester’s season is not to become a battle against relegation, they need to start winning quickly – but their upcoming fixtures are far from encouraging.
Four of their next six matches are away from home – including the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with Sevilla – while their home games in that period are against Manchester United and Liverpool.
From the moment Ward-Prowse curled a precise finish beyond Kasper Schmeichel from Cedric Soares’ low cross, there seemed only one possible outcome.
By the break, the visitors had managed just two touches in the Saints area. The hosts had managed 16 in the other penalty box – one of those a rifled left-footed finish by Rodriguez after a Ward-Prowse free-kick was inadvertently helped on by Leicester defender Robert Huth.
Cruising Saints thought they had added a third after the break when Wes Morgan headed into his own net from a free-kick, only for an offside flag to spare the visiting captain.
A few minutes later, Morgan was flummoxed by the pace of Shane Long, who was hauled down in the area. Referee Michael Oliver rightly pointed to the spot.
Up stepped Tadic to dispatch his first home goal for Southampton in a year.
The loss of centre-back Virgil van Dijk to an apparent ankle injury in the second half will be Puel’s only regret, especially in the week that the club lost captain Jose Fonte following his move to West Ham.
