Brilliant result and we were deserved winners overall
We started the game really bright and having looked at the highlights Dicko's misses are even worse than I thought. He also had a glorious opening where he was one on one with the keeper but miscontrolled the ball and messed it up. it's a shame because he looked right up for it but when he needed the quality it was lacking. We played some good football in the first half but towards the end we had a lot of defending and had Norris (plus some crap finishing by Southampton) to thank for not being one nil down.
Second half and the introduction of Ronan saw us raise our game a level. We dominated the possession, we were creating overloads down both flanks and as a result were opening up lots of space in the final third. Where Marshall just clearly wasn't fit, Ronan gave us balance, receiving between the lines but also some composure on the ball as in the first half we kept giving the ball back to them once we won it. When we got the goal it was a completely deserved one, and then we defended really well, not looking panicked at all even when Gabbiadini, Long and Redmond came on. Then we get the all important second to seal it after brilliant play from Zyro and a scrappy finish from Wilson, who made a great run to get himself one on one with the keeper. He may well get on the bench Saturday, he was lively.
Norris - one excellent save and generally pretty composed with his distribution. Great back up to have and could easily break into the first team at some point.
Bennett - solid, nothing spectacular but got about his job OK - 6
Batth - aside from a mad moment which nearly cost us a goal in first half, pretty good. Doesn't move the ball as quickly as Coady but still did a good job in the middle. - 7
Deslandes - I thought he looked quite good in pre-season and he did well again today. Saved us a couple of times and worked well with Vinagre defensively I thought. - 7
Graham - not his fault but he did look uncomfortably, mainly in the first half. He was isolated 2v1 against McQueen and Boufal and they murdered us for about twenty minutes as Marshall just couldn't recover early enough. Linked very well with Ronan but delivery was poor which was a shame - 6
Price - poor in the first half but his performance in the second half made a big difference. Was winning the ball everywhere and combined well with Ronan on a number of times - 7
Edwards - played fairly well. Actually held his position a lot better out of possession than I have seen him do. Won quite a lot of second balls too - 6
Vinagre - my MOTM. What a player this guy is going to be. Reminds me a lot of what Luke Shaw looked like under Poch at Southampton, the way he drives inside. So, so quick. A couple of times where his defending was a bit casual but he will get better with that - 8
Marshall - just off the pace. Some neat touches but his lack of protection really hurt us towards the end of the first half. Was obvious he was coming off at half time. That 45 minutes will have done him a lot of good - 5
Dicko - Looked threatening and a lot sharper than I've seen him for a while but his hold up play was poor and when he got in behind he didn't make the chances count. A shame because he does look so much fitter now. - 6
Cavaleiro - such a quality footballer and baffles me how so many just didn't rate him. We are a much better side with him in it and he is going to be crucial this season. - 7
Subs
Ronan - 8 - huge impact. Such a classy footballer and works so hard
Zyro - 7 - looked sluggish until his assist which really woke him up. I've never seen someone look SO happy to contribute towards a goal. He went nuts
WIlson - 7 - scrappy finish but it went in so who cares. Looked sharp too