Down to ten men with two thirds of the game left, we showed resilience and fortitude to emerge victorious.
Okay, I didn’t imagine winning against newly promoted Southampton would be such hard work and be so much relief when the final whistle blew, but we edged it in the end, and can still boast a 100 percent record in the league after our opening fixture.
Whilst much has been made of our lack of activity in the transfer market this summer, we had options off the bench to both reshuffle when Schar went off and then, introduce much needed reinforcements as the game wore on.
Contrast that with last season when at times we were so threadbare that there were no viable options off the bench and we lost games in the dying embers.
Nick Pope, in the middle of our goal
There were lots of heroes out there today, Joelinton was a colossus and won us the game, Bruno covered every blade of grass, Isak was so alert in assisting big Joe and the defence was resolute, even accounting for young Lewis Hall being under par, his goalline clearance was immense.
However, make no mistake, without Nick Pope today, we wouldn’t have won.
His presence calms the back four and the rest of the team, he made a big save from Armstrong at a crucial time and up in the stands, you just feel assured knowing it’s Nick that’s between the sticks.
Fabian Schar should count his blessings that his teammates got us over the line.
Whilst there’s little doubting Brereton Diaz provoked the Swiss, simulated and then conned the referee, Schar has to accept that putting your forehead anywhere near that of an opponent runs the risk of a red card and his actions could have cost us the game. He’s also going to miss Bournemouth and Spurs.
The game turned dramatically in the 28th minute when Schar received his marching orders, but up to that point, we were hardly convincing and even with ten men, I wonder whether other genuine top four contenders would have allowed their opponent to dominate possession and not get at a quite dreadful Southampton side?
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