Southampton were condemned to a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Brentford on Saturday afternoon.
Saints incoming boss Ivan Juric promised to bring his unique ‘heavy metal’ style to the south coast, but Southampton are still playing the football equivalent of easy listening.
A reinvigorated Mikkel Damsgaard overcame a flurry of midfield challenges before sliding a perfectly weighted ball between the red and white stripes to find Kevin Schade for the game’s opener after just six minutes.
The Brentford in-form Dane is enjoying his best burst of what has been an underwhelming run, providing a second assist in the space of four days after scoring the opening goal of the game. New Year’s Day defeat to Arsenal.
The Bees created plenty of chances in search of a second but were denied in the first half by a combination of lopsided finishing and Aaron Ramsdale. Sepp van den Berg finally found the back of the net eight minutes after the restart, sending a header into the bottom corner only for VAR to flag a foul in the build-up.
Juric emptied his bench after watching Saints produce one of the most woeful halves in football in a season that has seen many contenders for that dubious honour. However, the four substitutes who were on the pitch ten minutes after the restart could do nothing to Bryan Mbeumo’s great strike. With devastating effect with his fellow strike Yoane Wissa, the searched forward he made it 2-0 to the visitors shortly after the hour mark.
Mbeumo got his second and Brentford’s third of the afternoon soon after by converting a penalty in the 69th minute. Chelsea loanee Lesley Ugochukwu managed to bring Van den Berg to the turf as he lost his footing in a comical attempt to defend a cross.
Keane Lewis-Potter and Yoane Wissa added to Southampton’s misery with stoppage-time strikes, ensuring Brentford’s first away win of the season was emphatic.
|
player |
Valuation |
|---|---|
|
GC: Aaron Ramsdale |
5.3/10 |
|
CB: Taylor Harwood-Bellis |
5.1/10 |
|
CB: Jan Bednarek |
6.0/10 |
|
CB: Nathan Wood |
6.3/10 |
|
RWB: James Bree |
6.4/10 |
|
CM: Lesley Ugochukwu |
6.6/10 |
|
CM: joe wednesday |
6.4/10 |
|
LWB: Kyle Walker-Peters |
5.9/10 |
|
RF: Tyler Dibling |
6.1/10 |
|
LF: Kamaldeen Sulemana |
6.4/10 |
|
ST: Paul Onuachu |
6.0/10 |
|
SUB: Charlie Taylor (46′ for Wood) |
6.3/10 |
|
SUB: Yukinari Sugawara (46′ for Bree) |
5.0/10 |
|
SUB: Adam Armstrong (56′ for Sulemana) |
6.4/10 |
|
SUB: Cameron Archer (56′ for Onuachu) |
6.5/10 |
|
SUB: Adam Lallana (87′ for Aribo) |
N/A |
Subs not used: Alex McCarthy (GK), Armel Bella-Kotchap, Ryan Manning, Ben Brereton Diaz.
|
player |
Valuation |
|---|---|
|
GC: Mark Flecken |
8.2/10 |
|
RB: Mads Roerslev |
7.3/10 |
|
CB: Nathan Collins |
7.7/10 |
|
CB: Sepp van den Berg |
7.5/10 |
|
LB: Keane Lewis-Potter |
8.3/10 |
|
CM: Mathias Jensen |
6.9/10 |
|
CM: Christian Norgaard |
7.6/10 |
|
CM: Mikkel Damsgaard |
8.3/10 |
|
RW: Bryan Mbeumo |
9.5/10 |
|
ST: Yoane warned |
8.6/10 |
|
LW: Kevin Dany |
7.7/10 |
|
SUB: Vitaly Janelt (71′ for Jensen) |
6.6/10 |
|
SUB: Edmond Paris-Maghoma (81′ for Norgaard) |
N/A |
|
SUB: Yegor Yarmolyuk (81′ for Schade) |
N/A |
Subs not used: Hakon Rahn Valdimarsson, Benjamin Arthur, Jayden Meghoma, Kim Ji-soo, Tony Yogane, Yunus Emre Konak.
