Southampton suffered a 5-0 defeat against Brentford on Saturday afternoon.
Saints’ new boss Ivan Juric promised to bring his unique “heavy metal” style to the south coast, but Southampton are still playing the footballing equivalent of easy listening.
A resurgent Mikkel Damsgaard overcame a barrage of half-hearted tackles before slipping a perfectly weighted ball between the red and white stripes after just six minutes, setting up Kevin Schade for the game’s opening goal.
Brentford’s in-form Dane is enjoying the best breakthrough of his disappointing career so far, providing a second assist in four days after scoring the opener in the New Year’s defeat to Arsenal.
The Bees created a number of chances in search of a second chance, but were denied in the first half by a combination of angled finishing and Aaron Ramsdale. Eight minutes after the restart, Sepp van den Berg finally found the net and sent a powerful header into the bottom corner, but the VAR was able to detect a foul in advance.
Juric cleared his bench after watching the Saints endure one of football’s saddest halves in a season that saw many contenders for that dubious honor. But the four substitutes who appeared on the pitch ten minutes after the restart were unable to stop Bryan Mbeumo’s thunderous shot. The sought-after striker harmonized with his strike partner Yoane Wissa to devastating effect and gave the visitors a 2-0 lead just after the hour.
Mbeumo soon secured his second and Brentford’s third goal of the afternoon by converting a penalty in the 69th minute. Chelsea loanee Lesley Ugochukwu managed to drag Van den Berg to the turf as he lost his footing in a comically feeble attempt to parry a cross.
Keane Lewis-Potter and Yoane Wissa added to Southampton’s misery with injury-time goals to ensure Brentford’s first away win of the season was an emphatic one.
*Reviews provided by FotMob*
player | Evaluation |
|---|---|
GK: 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 Aribo | 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 (87th for Aribo) | N/A |
Substitutes not used: Alex McCarthy (TW), Armel Bella-Kotchap, Ryan Manning, Ben Brereton Diaz.
*Reviews provided by FotMob*
player | Evaluation |
|---|---|
GK: Mark Flekken | 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 Wissa | 8.6/10 |
LW: Kevin Shame | 7.7/10 |
SUB: Vitaly Janelt (71′ for Jensen) | 6.6/10 |
SUB: Edmond Paris-Maghoma (81st for Norgaard) | N/A |
SUB: Yegor Yarmolyuk (81st for pity) | N/A |
Substitutes not used: Hakon Rahn Valdimarsson, Benjamin Arthur, Jayden Meghoma, Kim Ji-soo, Tony Yogane, Yunus Emre Konak.