Reaction from the bet365 Stadium as Southampton win 1-0 against Stoke City
Referee James Bell proved a unifying figure as injury-battered Stoke City fell to a home defeat to Southampton.
Stoke, who have received a handful of apologies already from the EFL this season for penalties not awarded, can expect at least one possibly two more for fouls on Mehdi Leris and particularly Nathan Lowe that were not given by rookie official Bell. That was after he had given Southampton a free-kick to take the lead late in the first half. Josh Laurent, albeit rather dozily, pulled back Stuart Armstrong. Southampton players tried to disrupt the wall – then watched as Armstrong dispatched his shot over everyone and into the top left corner, beyond a dive from Mark Travers.
Bell was disliked by Stoke fans at that moment, which was made worse by the fact that he only added one minute of extra time during a season when he often added at least four times that much. To add insult to injury, he blew up early to prevent Stoke from taking a corner while also issuing bookings for slide tackles on the half-way line to Ben Pearson and Ki-Jana Hoever.
Corners had perhaps been Stoke’s best chance in the first half, with jittery keeper Gavin Bazunu looking not enjoying Daniel Johnson’s deliveries under the crossbar.
There was a smattering of half-chances in open play, with Lowe – making his full debut – heading on target after a neat flick from Sead Haksabanovic to help on a cross from Hoever. Kyle Walker-Peters had to dash across to tackle Lowe after good work from Leris while Hoever slung in a series of crosses after getting to the by-line.
Hoever was being tested the other way as Kamaldeen Sulemana took the chance to run with the ball, getting the better of the exchanges in the early stages without being able to then really test Travers. Adam Armstrong shoved a shot-cross past the far post when running in from the right too and the visitors looked dangerous when they moved it quickly getting into the final third.
It might have been two right at the start of the second half as Stuart Armstrong met a cross from Adam Armstrong and headed down for Luke McNally to somehow clip over his own bar while Leris soon wanted a penalty when he was pushed in the back by Flynn Downes.
Sulemana forced an excellent save from Travers after gliding past Hoever – and Wilmot, sliding in behind the keeper as extra protection, inadvertently slid painfully right into the post. The stretcher was summoned again for the centre-back, who turned it down and very gingerly limped down the tunnel. It left Stoke with an experimental back four of Tchamadeu at right-back, Jordan Thompson at left-back and Hoever and McNally in the middle – and Hoever soon had to make way too so Leris had to drop in at right-back.
They should have almost immediately had a penalty when Lowe was flattened by Jan Bednarek running onto a Johnson cross. It was denied by Bell, who was increasingly infuriating and mystifying the home crowd. It will be a surprise, and damning for the EFL, if he is in charge of a match at Championship level again any time soon.
Here are the player ratings from the bet365 Stadium.
Travers: Excellent save to stop Sulemana in second half. Was grasping at thin air as Armstrong found top corner. 6
Hoever: Had a testing evening against Sulemana and didn’t win all his battles but didn’t hide either. Got into good crossing positions and ended up as emergency centre-half before injury ended evening early. 6
Tchamadeu: Encouraging full debut, full of endeavour, urgency and promising bursts forward. Not fazed, including as he was switched from left to right-back. 8
McNally: A couple of important moments as he returned to starting line-up, including flicking over Stuart Armstrong header at start of second half. 8
Wilmot: Big heart from the centre-back and another cruel blow as he collided with a post, turning down the summoned stretcher. 7
Pearson: Another booking that no other player on the pitch would have received. Plenty of action as he got stuck in around the park. 7
Laurent: Clumsy if soft foul for the Southampton opener, tugging back on Stuart Armstrong’s shorts. 6
Johnson: Put in a shift, capable of a neat pass in the final third and feisty at times as well. 6
Haksabanovic: A couple of flicks, including a beauty to pick out Lowe in the first half. 6
Leris: Hard work down the right, pressing and harrying, and sending in a useful cross or two. 7
Lowe: First start and offered valuable runs behind defence. Should have been awarded clear penalty. 7
Substitutes
Thompson (for Wilmot, 60): Stand-in left-back put in a gutsy performance. 7
Burger (for Laurent, 70): Ready to make a challenge, make things happen and try to change the game. 7
Junho (for Haksabanovic, 70): Added extra quality in the middle as Stoke had to re-jig due to injuries at the back. 6
Wesley (for Hoever, 73): Introduced as an extra target for the closing stages and nodded one chance wide. 6
Not used: Bonham, Fielding, Gayle, Jojic, Sidibe.
Referee: James Bell (Yorkshire) 1 – A poor performance, bizarrely turning down stonewall penalty for Nathan Lowe and losing control
