John Brewin was down by the Solent this evening. His report is here. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night!
Brendan Rodgers takes his turn. “Disappointed with the scoreline but the performance was what we would want, in terms of arriving in the final third of the pitch … the main disappointment was not taking the opportunities we created … on another night we would have scored three or four goals … we started really well … we controlled the game in the second half … we lacked that little final pass or little bit of quality that makes the difference … we’re disappointed with the goal as a whole but the players regrouped … we just couldn’t finish … we can score goals but the last few games we haven’t been able to take our opportunities … we will continually work on it … sometimes you get games like that … if we continue to play like that, we’ll gain the points we need to stay in the division … but it’s so tight … there is still a lot of football to play and we’ll stay calm … it’s my responsibility to get the team going again.”
Ruben Selles talks to Sky. “The performance could be better … we didn’t have our best game … but we had a lot of points we can take … I saw a team working and suffering together … we were lucky with the last chance … it was important to show our togetherness and I will take that … we are learning as a group … we just need to take one thing at a time and be calm … I expect us to go to Old Trafford and try to win the game.”
He’s also asked if Carlos Alcaraz will think twice about knee sliding again. “If he’s not thinking, I will be sure that I will do it for him … sometimes the emotion drives you into places you will regret … he is a young player … I am happy for him because he is a really good player.”
Updated
That Souttar miss just about sums Leicester up. They created plenty of chances this evening, but never looked like converting any of them, Iheanacho in particular culpable. Southampton put in a proper shift, though, and their response to James Ward-Prowse’s missed penalty was mighty impressive, shrugging off the disappointment to turn up the pressure, a period of positive play that led to Carlos Alcaraz’s winner. A huge three points for Saints, who move off the bottom. Having looked well adrift a couple of weeks ago, they suddenly find themselves just one point from safety. Meanwhile Leicester, who appeared to be pootling along in mid-table, are now only three points above the dropzone. This season’s relegation battle is threatening to turn epic. Good luck to one and all.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 26 | 34 | 63 |
| 2 | Man City | 26 | 41 | 58 |
| 3 | Man Utd | 24 | 13 | 49 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 26 | 10 | 45 |
| 5 | Newcastle | 24 | 18 | 41 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 24 | 12 | 39 |
| 7 | Fulham | 25 | 5 | 39 |
| 8 | Brighton | 23 | 14 | 38 |
| 9 | Brentford | 23 | 7 | 35 |
| 10 | Chelsea | 25 | -1 | 34 |
| 11 | Aston Villa | 25 | -7 | 34 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace | 25 | -11 | 27 |
| 13 | Wolverhampton | 26 | -16 | 27 |
| 14 | Nottm Forest | 24 | -24 | 25 |
| 15 | Leicester | 25 | -7 | 24 |
| 16 | West Ham | 25 | -10 | 23 |
| 17 | Leeds | 25 | -11 | 22 |
| 18 | Everton | 25 | -19 | 21 |
| 19 | Southampton | 25 | -21 | 21 |
| 20 | AFC Bournemouth | 25 | -27 | 21 |
FULL TIME: Southampton 1-0 Leicester City
Saints are off the bottom of the Premier League … and Leicester are being dragged into the relegation battle.
90 min +5: Maddison flings the ball into the mixer. Bazunu turns it out for a corner. Saints half clear. Maddison curls in from the left. Bazunu flaps and misses. Souttar, facing an unguarded net, slams his header onto the top of the crossbar and out for a goal kick. What a chance to salvage something right at the death!
90 min +4: … but Maddison drives down the left and draws a foul from Ward-Prowse, who goes into the book. A free kick just to the left of the Saints box. Ward comes up for it. Maddison to take. The tension around St Mary’s is palpable.
90 min +3: Leicester can’t get anything going.
90 min +2: A few feisty challenges from the home side. If nothing else, it proves how big these three points would be for Southampton.
90 min +1: Souttar miscontrols on the halfway line, giving Adam Armstrong the chance to skitter up the left wing and eat up some of the clock.
90 min: On the touchline, Brendan Rodgers has the good grace to look extremely concerned by his team’s huffing and puffing. There will be five added minutes.
89 min: On Sky Sports, Alan Smith names Che Adams as his player of the match. “Like another team that plays in blue, my gut feeling is that Leicester have too good a squad to go down,” writes Kári Tulinius. “But watching them play, my eyes can’t help but disagree.”
88 min: Faes looks for Iheanacho down the middle. Iheanacho chests down but Bella-Kotchap steps across him to take up possession and win a free kick.
87 min: Stuart Armstrong bolts up the middle of the pitch before finding Mara out on the right. Mara cuts back infield and aims a curler towards the top left. It’s always heading high and wide.
85 min: Saints are sitting deep. Leicester probe this way and that. A corner out on the right. Maddison curls it towards the near post. Faes rises highest only to clank a weak downward header wide right from six yards. It’s not as though Leicester have failed to create chances. They’ve never looked like taking one, though. Not yet, anyway.
83 min: Faes channels his inner Beckenbauer and dribbles his way down the middle before laying off to Iheanacho on his right. Iheanacho wellies a speculative shot well over the bar from distance.
82 min: Bednarek is fine to continue.
81 min: Stuart Armstrong comes on for Sulemana. Then Bednarek goes down after a clash of heads with Vardy. A pause in play.
80 min: Maddison finds some space down the left and looks for Iheanacho on the right. His diagonal pass floats harmlessly out for a goal kick.
78 min: Both of these teams are short on confidence and desperate for points. The quality is pretty much as you’d expect. A lot of misplaced passes as the nerves kick in.
76 min: Armstrong is booked for a fully cynical swipe at Maddison’s ankles. Maddison gets up with a view to throwing hands, but the referee gets in the way to stop the situation escalating.
75 min: This game is getting stretched. Mara sends Sulemana into acres of space down the left. Sulemana tugs back for Armstrong, who leans back and scores three rugby points. Elyounoussi was better placed behind him, though it matters not, as Sulemana was a yard offside.
73 min: Praet bombs down the right and crosses for Maddison, who traps elegantly but can’t get a shot away. Leicester’s frustration is palpable.
72 min: Dewsbury-Hall whips a low cross through the Saints box from the left. Neither Vardy nor Iheanacho can get anywhere near it.
71 min: Sky have just flashed up a stat which succinctly tells Leicester’s story: 61 percent possession, 26 touches in the Saints box, no efforts on target.
69 min: A double change for Leicester, who swap out Mendy and Tete for Ndidi and Vardy.
68 min: Maddison finds Iheanacho down the right with a forensic pass. Iheanacho should then slip Tete clear along the touchline, but inexplicably plays the pass behind his man and out for a throw. Iheanacho is having something of a shocker this evening.
66 min: Mara is good to continue. Play restarts, and Bazunu slaps a clearance straight to Iheanacho, just to the right of the D. Iheanacho curls towards the top left but blazes over. Bazunu is the most relieved man in the stadium; Iheanacho the most profligate.
65 min: Everyone takes the opportunity to knock back some water.
64 min: Mara takes a whack upside the head in an aerial duel with Souttar. On comes the doctor.
63 min: Adams is booked for taking his sweet time to depart when substituted. He’s replaced by Mara, while Walcott makes way for Adam Armstrong.
61 min: Dewsbury-Hall rolls Iheanacho into space down the inside-right channel and into the Southampton box. Iheanacho prepares to shoot, but never quite seems in full control, and takes the ball too far wide. He can’t get a shot away. He’s been extremely blunt this evening. A more confident striker would have bagged one or two goals with the opportunities he’s had.
59 min: Maitland-Niles floats a pass down the right to release Walcott, only for the flag to pop up for offside.
57 min: Leicester fling a few high balls into the Saints box. The hosts deal with them easily enough.
56 min: Faes over-elaborates 30 yards from his own goal, and nearly lets Adams in. As ersatz David Luiz tribute acts go, he’s pretty good.
54 min: Earlier on, the Leicester fans were reminiscing about that 9-0 in song. But now it’s the Saints fans in good voice. The hosts look reasonably comfortable right now, even if the Foxes are dominating possession.
52 min: Tete and Walker-Peters contest a long, high pass down the right. Eyes fixed on the heavens, they run into each other and require a quick bit of treatment. They’re good to continue. Meanwhile Matt Burtz has turned up to make the time-honoured Evertonian MBM trio of Waltz-Naylor-Burtz whole again: “I have only one thing to say about relegation being a potential positive re: coming straight back up. How do Sunderland supporters feel about that?”
50 min: Turns out Alcaraz can’t continue, and he’s replaced by Elyounoussi. Chances are he won’t be celebrating with a knee slide again any time soon.
49 min: Some space for Dewsbury-Hall down the left. He crosses deep for Iheanacho, who wafts a dismal header wide right from close range. A huge chance spurned.
48 min: Ward-Prowse whips a tame effort towards the top left and straight at Ward, who claims easily.
47 min: Alcaraz is soon in the wars again, tonked from behind by Mendy as he spins down the left. A free kick just to the side of the Leicester box. Ward-Prowse to deliver.
Saints get the second half underway. Alcaraz is back out, which is great news for the hosts. If his warm-up hustle is anything to go by, the knee is holding up well … although he does have some strapping on it. Leicester meanwhile replace Barnes with Praet.
Half-time postbag (Evertonian ennui edition). “Pretty sure that in his first game back, Dominic Calvert-Lewin will score, do the knee slide, injure himself and, from his stretcher, see the big screen VARing it off” – Gary Naylor
“I’m not sure Mary Waltz is correct about the inevitability of relegation for Everton, as this is one of the most crowded relegation races that I can recall. As it stands, there’s only four points between last and 14th! But she’s right about Weather Report, the absolute gateway drug from rock to jazz. Shorter, Zawinul, Pastorius, and many more!” – Joe Pearson
HALF TIME: Southampton 1-0 Leicester City
Leicester were on top for half an hour. Then Saints were awarded a penalty. James Ward-Prowse missed it, but the hosts took the disappointment on the chin, kept piling forward, and took the lead through a fine Carlos Alcaraz goal. Alcaraz then injured himself by sliding around on his knees in celebration, so goodness knows if we’ll see him again for the second half. But on balance, a good half for Southampton, who will move off the bottom of the table tonight if they hold onto this lead.
Updated
45 min +4: Maddison is booked for a frustrated tug on Walcott’s shirt.
45 min +3: Iheanacho tries to find Barnes out on the left with a raking diagonal pass, only for the ball to sail harmlessly out for a goal kick.
45 min +2: Maddison tries to release Iheanacho down the inside-right channel, but Bella-Kotchap glides over to ease the striker out of the road.
45 min +1: The first of four additional first-half minutes goes by without incident.
45 min: Sulemana wriggles down the inside-right channel before whipping a shot towards the near post. Ward claims.
44 min: Alcaraz still isn’t moving freely. What a daft injury to pick up. “It may seem that a black cloud has developed around me regarding my beloved Everton but I am actually prepping myself for the inevitable results, adopting a semi-Zen attitude,” replies Mary Waltz. “Last year I had hope and even though we eventually survived the experience was brutal,stressful and not pleasant at all. So instead of hope I am trying to adopt a Zen acceptance and realize that yes, it’s only football. UmmmmmAAAAummm.”
43 min: Barnes is booked for landing on top of Ward-Prowse’s boot. Studs near the ankle. You’ve seen players given their marching orders for less.
41 min: Adams is sent scampering into space down the left only for the flag to correctly go up for offside. Leicester were the better team for the first half hour, but now they’re in danger of falling apart. Strange and delicate thing, confidence.
40 min: Alcaraz goes down, having hurt himself while knee-sliding in celebration. He pops back up again soon enough, though he doesn’t look totally comfortable.
39 min: Adams was only an inch or two on, mind. Souttar played him on. Leicester had been the dominant team, but the penalty shifted momentum dramatically. Meanwhile Richard Hirst signs up to this MBM’s burgeoning relegation support group: “As Fulham have shown, there is rebirth and resurrection after relegation, only to be followed immediately by a second death. Third time lucky is the mantra.”
37 min: There’s a long pause as VAR checks whether Adams was marginally offside as he received the ball. But he was on, and the goal stands! A wild and wonderful few minutes for the home team ends in ultimate satisfaction.
Updated
GOAL! Southampton 1-0 Leicester (Alcaraz 35)
Maitland-Niles slips a pass infield from the right flank. Adams picks it up just inside the Leicester half. He spins and rolls a glorious defence-splitting pass down the right channel to release Alcaraz, who strides into the box before whistling a fine low drive across Ward and into the bottom left!
Updated
34 min: Ward-Prowse drops deep and wedges down the middle for Alcaraz, whose diving header from the penalty spot goes straight at Ward. Leicester attempt to play out, only for Faes to ship possession to Sulemana, who drags a shot wide right. No matter, though, because…
33 min: Sulemana flies down the left and wins a corner as Saints attempt to shrug off their disappointment. But again, Ward-Prowse’s dead-ball delivery isn’t up to his usual standard. Leicester clear.
32 min: Ward-Prowse, the set-piece expert, smacks the penalty towards the bottom left … but Ward has guessed correctly and gets down to save! The Leicester fans roar their approval. Could that prove a big moment in the battle against relegation?
Updated
Penalty for Saints!
30 min: Walcott makes his way down the right. He reaches the edge of the box and crosses. Castagne, sliding in with his arm flapping in the air, slaps the ball away. Accidentally, but the referee immediately points to the spot.
28 min: … so having said that, Saints string a few passes together in the Leicester half. They probe down both flanks, but never look like finding the killer ball into the box. The home fans get a bit testy at an apparent lack of dynamism.
26 min: The football briefly turns into a hot potato. Moves of more than two passes are at a premium right now.
24 min: Tete’s persistence down the right wins a corner. Maddison plays it short, combining with Tete before pulling back for Barnes, whose shot bagatelles around the Saints box for a while. Bazunu eventually clears. Leicester look the most likely to open the scoring.
23 min: Sulemana dinks the ball past Pereira and makes good ground down the left before checking infield. He lays off to Lavia, who swings a fairly aimless cross out for a goal kick. A little better from Saints, who haven’t achieved too much in attack. “I’m surprised Mary thinks of it as a march toward relegation and not a waltz,” begins Peter Oh. “In any case, if it’s any consolation to her, relegation/death is not necessarily the end. There is rebirth/reincarnation in the Championship, and hope of resurrection/promotion. Chin up Waltz!”
21 min: Alcaraz is quite rightly booked for lunging in on Castagne, catching the Leicester defender on the top of his foot. More mistimed in eagerness than malicious.
20 min: Maddison whips a vicious ball into the mixer. He finds Iheanacho, six yards out. Iheanacho doesn’t react, the ball pinging off his head and sailing inches wide left. No idea how that stayed out, though Iheanacho saw that late and didn’t have a clue what was going on. So close to the opener.
19 min: Maddison probes down the left and is eventually upended by an impatient Walcott. A stupid foul to give away. A free kick in a dangerous position, just to the side of the Saints box. Maddison gets up and prepares to take it himself.
18 min: Lavia gets back up. He’s good to continue.
16 min: Barnes crosses deep from the left. Iheanacho eyebrows a header out for a goal kick. Then Lavia goes down, requiring some treatment. We pause.
15 min: Alcaraz makes his way into the Leicester box down the right. His shot pinballs out for a corner that comes to nothing.
13 min: Leicester pin Southampton back. Tete slings in a couple of crosses from the right. Both are half-cleared. Then Tete attempts a shot. Blocked. Finally Maddison slips a cute pass down the inside-right channel to release Pereira into the box. Pereira is caught in two minds, between crossing from Iheanacho in the middle and aiming a curler across Bazunu and into the top left. He achieves nothing. Goal kick.
11 min: All a bit scrappy now. Saturday evening prime-time light entertainment, right here!
9 min: Tete dribbles into the Saints box from the right and hits a tame cross-cum-shot that apologetically rolls into the hands of Bazunu at the near post. “I have to admit the only reason I am watching this fixture is to find out who will a join Everton on the long death march to relegation,” writes Mary Waltz. “Yippy!”
8 min: Leicester were opened up awfully easily there. Goodness knows what Faes was doing, haring after Maitland-Niles only to mistime his tackle in clumsy fashion.
6 min: Maitland-Niles skips past a Faes lunge and tears down the right touchline. He storms into the box and cuts back for Walcott, who slaps a poor first-time shot straight at his team-mate Sulemana. Leicester breathe a sigh of relief and clear. In a parallel universe somewhere, it’s already 1-1.
Updated
5 min: That really was the sublime to the ridiculous within a couple of seconds from Iheanacho. Such a lovely take and spin into space; such a comically awful attempted pass. A competent execution would surely have seen Leicester ahead.
3 min: Iheanacho spins into space in the midfield. A simple pass down the middle would release Maddison on goal, but he clanks the ball straight at the nearest Saints player. Maddison gesticulates to the space ahead of him, smoke parping out of his ears.
2 min: Ward-Prowse’s delivery isn’t all that. Leicester clear their lines.
1 min: Saints start quickly, Walker-Peters drifting in from the left and feeding Alcaraz, who has a crack from distance. The shot is deflected wide right for the first corner of the evening.
Leicester get the match started. Anticipation crackles around St Mary’s.
The teams are out! Southampton wear their bizarro Rank Xerox shirts, while Leicester sport their royal blue. “Congratulations on landing the gig to MBM the C̶l̶a̶u̶d̶e̶ ̶P̶u̶e̶l̶ Jannik Vestergaard derby,” writes Vivek Rajendra. “That is it. There’s nothing much else I can think of about this game really, which I predict will end goalless. Or 4-0 to Leicester. Or 1-0 to Southampton. This game will feature fewer goals than double-barrel named players. You can take that to the bank.” We’ll be off in a couple of minutes.
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers chats to Sky. “We have looked at the areas where we need to be better … defensively more aggressive … when we defend well as a team, we normally pass well as a team … we had a tough start, decent in the middle before the World Cup, then a challenge to get going again … but it’s a great opportunity for us today to climb the table … a tough game but we’re ready for it … James Maddison is the player with the big personality … one of the top players in the league … when you have that talent in your team you always have a chance … you have to earn the right, you have to be strong and aggressive and defend well, then look for your talent and quality to come through.”
Southampton’s caretaker manager Ruben Selles talks to Sky Sports. “It is obvious we did not have the best week … we need to turn things around … we have been working and reflecting … we need to be better … we are here and we are ready to go, to make a good game and perform at our best level … if we do that, we will have chances to win the game … we need to exploit our best strengths … Che Adams has the expertise to manage the big moments in the game.”
Southampton and Leicester won’t be too displeased with the results of the 3pm kick-offs. Of the clubs in the relegation orbit, only Wolverhampton Wanderers won; Bournemouth, Leeds, West Ham and Crystal Palace all lost. The Wolves win means Leicester fall one place for now, though the Foxes can move up three places to 12th with a win this evening. Victory for Saints will lift them off the bottom at the expense of Bournemouth and possibly, if the goals fly in, Everton.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 26 | 34 | 63 |
| 2 | Man City | 26 | 41 | 58 |
| 3 | Man Utd | 24 | 13 | 49 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 26 | 10 | 45 |
| 5 | Newcastle | 24 | 18 | 41 |
| 6 | Liverpool | 24 | 12 | 39 |
| 7 | Fulham | 25 | 5 | 39 |
| 8 | Brighton | 23 | 14 | 38 |
| 9 | Brentford | 23 | 7 | 35 |
| 10 | Chelsea | 25 | -1 | 34 |
| 11 | Aston Villa | 25 | -7 | 34 |
| 12 | Crystal Palace | 25 | -11 | 27 |
| 13 | Wolverhampton | 26 | -16 | 27 |
| 14 | Nottm Forest | 24 | -24 | 25 |
| 15 | Leicester | 24 | -6 | 24 |
| 16 | West Ham | 25 | -10 | 23 |
| 17 | Leeds | 25 | -11 | 22 |
| 18 | Everton | 25 | -19 | 21 |
| 19 | AFC Bournemouth | 25 | -27 | 21 |
| 20 | Southampton | 24 | -22 | 18 |
Southampton make four changes to the side that went down 1-0 at Leeds United last week. Kyle Walker-Peters, Carlos Alcaraz, Theo Walcott and Che Adams come in for Romain Perraud, Stuart Armstrong, Mohamed Elyounoussi and Ebere Onuachu, all of whom drop to the bench.
Leicester make three changes to the starting XI named for the 1-0 home loss to Arsenal. Ricardo Pereira, Nampalys Mendy and James Maddison come in for Victor Kristiansen, Wilfred Ndidi and Dennis Praet.
The teams
Southampton: Bazunu, Maitland-Niles, Bednarek, Bella-Kotchap, Walker-Peters, Lavia, Alcaraz, Ward-Prowse, Walcott, Sulemana, Adams.
Subs: Caballero, Salisu, Perraud, Djenepo, Elyounoussi, S Armstrong, Mara, Onuachu, A Armstrong.
Leicester City: Ward, Pereira, Souttar, Faes, Castagne, Dewsbury-Hall, Mendy, Maddison, Tete, Barnes, Iheanacho.
Subs: Iversen, Amartey, Thomas, Soyuncu, Ndidi, Soumare, Praet, Daka, Vardy.
Your SAINTS ✊
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) March 4, 2023
How #SaintsFC will line-up against #LCFC: pic.twitter.com/h1IXfDtgCO
We're set, here's your XI at St. Mary's! 📝 🦊#SOULEI pic.twitter.com/vq9CEFJhJT
— Leicester City (@LCFC) March 4, 2023
Updated
Preamble
A couple of teams in a bad place, right here. Southampton are bottom of the Premier League; Leicester City are only three points above the relegation zone. And if that’s not bad enough, both teams were knocked out of the FA Cup during the week at home by lower-league opposition, Leicester losing meekly to Blackburn, the Saints humiliated by fourth-tier Grimsby. All of which makes this a game that has the capacity to alter the mood for the better, or make it much, much, much worse. Fun for the neutral, then, if not for the teams involved, with the additional bonus that when these two clubs meet, the outcome varies wildly: Saints won at the King Power earlier in the season; Leicester won here 9-0 just three seasons ago. Kick off is at 5.30pm GMT. It’s on!
