Ben Fisher’s report is here, so I’ll say farewell. Thanks to all who messaged in and kept me company. Congratulations to Southampton and commiserations to West Brom. Off we roll to Wembley!
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Armstrong and Smallbone speak to Sky, and I’ll sum it up rather quickly: they’re rather chuffed, the latter grinning – he’s come through the youth setup and just scored a goal to send the club through to Wembley. A special evening for him.
FULL-TIME: Southampton 3-1 West Brom
And there it is. The home fans make their way on to the pitch as Southampton advance to the playoff final, Leeds the team standing between them and the Premier League. West Brom nicked a late, late goal but that was a dominant display from the Saints.
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GOAL! Southampton 3-1 West Brom (Kipré 90+7)
A consolation! It’s a genuinely terrific header from Kipré inside the box to beat McCarthy, diving to his right. It also means very little.
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90+6 min: Thomas-Asante picks up a loose ball as Fellows drives down the right to have his cross blocked out for a corner.
90+5 min: Southampton win a free-kick by the halfway line as the home support clap away.
90+4 min: “Well, at least the Tory Prime Minister will get to enjoy one victory this year,” writes Justin Kavanagh.
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90+2 min: Furlong wins West Brom a corner out on the right … the ball makes its way back out to the right wing before Weimann heads at goal in the middle. McCarthy gets down low to keep his clean sheet intact.
90+1 min: West Brom continue to push but Fellows is crowded out by two energetic Saints shirts on the visitors’ right.
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90 min: Seven minutes are added on.
88 min: Russell Martin’s clapping away on the sidelines, enjoying these final moments before the confirmation of the final whistle.
GOAL! Southampton 3-0 West Brom (Armstrong 86)
And that’s the cherry on top. Armstrong goes to the keeper’s left; Palmer guesses the right way but can’t get to it.
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Penalty for Southampton!
Stephens drives forward for Southampton and slides in the ball for the overlapping Manning on the left … he goes down and the ref points to the spot.
84 min: Southampton have a free-kick out on the right that’s taken short; they’ll just knock it about now and keep control of the ball for the remainder.
82 min: Mowatt is off for Weimann as West Brom make another push. The excellent Smallbone is taken down by Swift, who gets a yellow.
80 min: The cameras pan to the dejected faces of the visiting supporters. They’ve not been given much to shout about tonight.
GOAL! Southampton 2-0 West Brom (Armstrong 78)
Wembley awaits. West Brom’s midfield goes missing as Downes drives comfortably through the middle with a ridiculous amount of space provided to him. He feeds Armstrong on the left, who finds a touch of room in the box and slides his shot through the defender’s legs and past Palmer. That should be that.
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77 min: Manning has a go at goal with his left foot … but his free-kick flies miles high.
75 min: Walker-Peters is taken out after pulling off a lovely little turn, winning his side a free-kick.
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74 min: Thomas-Asante goes down in his half as West Brom look to launch a break.
73 min: More changes as Reach replaces Townsend for West Brom. For Southampton, David Brooks – who has been terrific – is off for Samuel Edozie.
71 min: West Brom are offering some energy now going forward, but Southampton hold on after a wave of attacks.
70 min: West Brom have a free-kick out on the right, perfectly set up for a ball in to the mixer. Swift finds Kipré at the far post, but he can’t get the desired connection. He was offside by a distance too.
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68 min: Armstrong has the ball in the net after Smallbone slides him in … but the flag goes up. He was off by quite a bit.
67 min: M’Vila gives away the ball in his own half as Southampton continue to hassle away,.
66 min: Southampton’s turn to shake it up. One Ryan replaces another: Manning on for Fraser.
64 min: Thomas-Asante, Swift and M’Vila are on for West Brom’s final half-hour push.
63 min: Townsend wins West Brom a corner after his ball in from the left is blocked. The corner comes in … it drops perfectly for Furlong to smash a hit and McCarthy gets fingertips to tip it over the bar. A brilliant save.
62 min: Brooks has the ball out on the right and Armstrong is desperate for the ball to be played into him, but there’s just no space for it. Aribo pings in a cross from the left but Palmer cleans up.
59 min: Wallace drives forward for West Brom before Southampton snuff out the danger; Armstrong receives the ball but is declared offside.
57 min: Brooks goes down inside the box under the challenge of Kipré and there’s no penalty given. Hmmm, the replays suggest that’s probably the wrong call.
56 min: “Is there a requirement for past, present and future Southampton players to carry three names?” asks Tiago Carreira. “You’ve got Kyle Walker-Peters, Taylor Harwood-Bellis today, last year you also had James Ward-Prowse and who could forget the one and only Matt Le Tissier.” An astute point.
54 min: Harwood-Bellis makes a gamechanging block as West Brom finally wake up, Wallace crossing into the middle before a shot comes in from close range. The Southampton centre-half is there to save the day, however, standing centrally to divert the ball away for a corner.
52 min: Furlong launches a long throw from the right, but it’s headed away for another throw. Furlong goes again … and McCarthy is forced to launch an authoritative punch away. The ball is thumped into the box once again and McCarthy fails to hold on … but West Brom can’t capitalise on his error and the keeper eventually cleans up his own mess.
GOAL! Southampton 1-0 West Brom (Smallbone 49)
Finally! Diangana gives away the ball in the middle with a poor pass, finding Smallbone who plays it out to the right to Brooks. He holds on before playing a lovely flick back to Smallbone, who drives into the box and lashes a fine hit past Palmer. Saints deservedly lead.
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48 min: Walker-Peters picks up the ball centrally and lashes a low shot from outside the box … wide.
47 min: The Saints invite the press at the back before tidily playing it around, with Fraser’s cross from the left blocked.
46 min: West Brom win a free-kick out on the left … it’s taken short, and the man out on the wing receiving is offside. Just silly from the visitors.
Peep again!
And we’re back – Southampton get things going again. The home fans unleash another roar.
“That Danish Dynamite kit is synonymous with explosive football (1986) and fairytale endings (1992),” writes Justin Kavanagh. “The Saints are in danger of falling somewhere between the two here (failure to qualify in 1990) unless they can find a goal or two.” Whatever happens here, it really is a gorgeous number.
HALF-TIME: Southampton 0-0 West Brom
Southampton are in control of the ball, creating more chances, and just look stronger. And yet this tie is still waiting for its first goal.
45+1 min: Aribo finds half a yard inside the box to have a go, but his curling effort – seeking the top left corner – flies high and over.
45 min: A minute is added on.
44 min: Johnston does brilliantly to keep hold of the ball with a drive down the left for West Brom and into the middle. But Southampton regain possession and resume as normal.
43 min: Southampton continue to knock it about patiently with Walker-Peters seeing plenty of the ball out on the right. West Brom just about take care of some trouble out on the Saints’ right to win a goal kick.
41 min: Southampton work it from right to left as West Brom retreat deep, clinging on here until half-time. Townsend heads away safely as a cross flies into the box.
38 min: Brooks whips in but there’s some dodgy stuff happening inside the box and West Brom win a free-kick.
37 min: Downes drives through the middle before laying off for Brooks to cross from the right. It’s out for a corner …
36 min: Play resumes and Downes wins the ball in the middle to set up Armstrong for a hit inside the box. It’s blocked but one thing’s clear: the Saints are outmuscling West Brom at present.
34 min: Downes is down at the moment, so we’ve got a little break in the game.
32 min: West Brom just haven’t properly shown up yet.
30 min: West Brom are crowded out in their own half as Brooks takes the ball and fires a low shot. Palmer dives to his left to collect safely.
29 min: Brooks picks up the ball on the right and fires in a tasty ball towards the front post, but Palmer is there to collect before Adam Armstrong can get a sniff.
28 min: Harwood-Bellis is the quarterback for Southampton at the moment, eyeing up the defence-splitting pass when he receives in the centre-circle.
26 min: Fraser runs in behind the West Brom defence but can’t nail the first touch from the lofted ball towards him.
24 min: In comes the delivery from Mowatt, Bartley gets a head on it before the ball makes its way back to Mowatt, who drills in a cross that is turned away for another corner. And then, for reasons not entirely known to me, the offside flag goes up. Southampton breathe easy.
23 min: Johnston jinks down the left for West Brom, winning a corner for his efforts.
21 min: Palmer punches away the corner, and Southampton build again from the back.
20 min: Southampton have a corner from the left … Smallbone delivers … short before crossing. It’s diverted away for another corner.
19 min: Southampton launch a break; well, Brooks launches a break, surrounded by West Brom shirts as he does brilliantly to drive and launch a shot.
18 min: A first tetchy moment for Southampton at the back as Fellows’ dinked cross from the right tests McCarthy, who back-pedals to tip the ball over for a corner.
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16 min: Brooks hits the post! Armstrong makes a nice run into the right channel to collect a pass from the back and plays a tidy ball into the middle for the onrushing Brooks, whose shot from close range hits the outside of the post.
14 min: West Brom have just calmed the game down with some passing around at the back, though they haven’t looked all that sharp when they’ve gone forward.
12 min: Oooh penalty shout! There’s a ball dinked into the West Brom box and Brooks tries to get on the end of it, but goes down somewhat theatrically after a tangle with Townsend. Not given, and fairly so.
11 min: They go short with the cross before Diangana gets on the end of a mis-hit cross, heading just wide.
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10 min: West Brom win a corner after Fellows’ cross from the right is blocked.
8 min: Oh my, Palmer nearly loses the ball as two Southampton shirts rush on to him. The keeper just about gets rid of the ball to stop the danger.
7 min: Rishi Sunak’s in the stands, by the way.
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6 min: Diangana receives the ball well between the lines but can only send the ball out for a Saints throw.
5 min: There’s an electric atmosphere out there, that’s for sure.
4 min: Southampton dominate early possession, working it around comfortably at the back before Fraser runs on to a ball in the left channel. Townsend clears inside his box for West Brom.
2 min: The Saints fans roar as Southampton enter the West Brom half. Walker-Peters slides into the box from the left-hand side with a one-two and fires a shot that is blocked.
1 min: Southampton win a free-kick inside the first 20 seconds, but Smallbone’s delivery is poor, failing to pump the ball towards the men waiting inside the box.
Peep!
Southampton are in their usual red; West Brom are kitted out in their regular navy blue and white stripes. The visitors kick off, moving from right to left on my screen. Let’s play!
OK, the players are making their way out. Sort your snacks and drinks out.
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The pre-match scenes: plenty of red.
Southampton Football Club. pic.twitter.com/h0JLipAjPS
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) May 17, 2024
A reminder of what happened in this fixture during the regular season: the Saints were 2-1 victors in November, with Adam Armstrong getting the winner after Kyle Bartley’s equaliser cancelled out Will Smallbone’s opener. Oddly enough the two goalscorers when Southampton won 2-0 at the Hawthorns in February were Fraser and Brooks, the men coming into the XI today.
Some more Championship reading before we get going. Here’s Nick Ames on the remarkable Ipswich story.
It’s a brutal game.
Right then, Southampton make two changes from the first leg: Ryan Fraser and David Brooks come in for Ryan Manning and Sékou Mara. West Brom have one – Jed Wallace replaces Brandon Thomas-Asante.
The teams
Here’s how they’re looking …
Second leg SAINTS ✊ pic.twitter.com/A32LCugzXr
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) May 17, 2024
Your Albion XI. 📋
— West Bromwich Albion (@WBA) May 17, 2024
𝗖𝗢𝗬𝗕! 👊@BarberbossUK | #EFLPlayOffs pic.twitter.com/7cBbIomX95
Preamble
Hello, hello, hello and welcome to coverage of West Brom’s visit to St Mary’s. Neither side could find the net in the first leg so it all comes down to today’s scoreline, with Leeds waiting for the victors at Wembley. Russell Martin has told his Southampton players to “attack the game until you can’t any more”, so let’s hope we’ve got a show on tonight. It’s going to be nervy, squeaky, hopefully thrilling too, with Southampton looking for an instant return to the Premier League. West Brom have been away from the big table since 2021, when even the safe presence of Big Sam couldn’t keep them up. Now they look to Carlos Corberán for salvation. Kick-off’s at 8pm BST.
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