4 January 2025
Southampton 0 Brentford 5
Ivan Juric had not had the start he had hoped for as Southampton manager. Having lost both of his first two games, they welcomed a Brentford side to St Mary’s who had failed to register a single win on the road in the Premier League this season. It seemed an ideal chance for The Saints to get a much-needed win to help their cause.
When looking at the two teamsheets, there was no denying that The Bees had far more quality at their disposal and this is the problem for Juric’s side. You may pick up the odd victory with a Championship side in the top-flight but there is no substitute for Premier League class, not even team chemistry can replace that.
The Saints are unlikely to go out on a Nottingham Forest style spending spree in January, mainly down to lack of funds and PSR rules. Without an influx of players with experience at this level, there is no doubting that Southampton are heading down this season. The only real question is who the other two teams to join them will be.
Brentford’s passing game was causing The Saints problems from the off. Damsgaard spotted the run of Schade and threaded it through the static Southampton defence. As Ramsdale came charging off his line to meet him, the forward clipped it past the keeper and into the far corner to give Thomas Frank’s side an early lead on the south coast.
With their inability to score themselves there for all to see, you wondered after only six minutes of this game whether it was beyond the hosts. In recent weeks they had been creating chances in games but their front three seemed to have such a lack of accuracy, they would be a dream firing squad for anyone being held hostage in the world.
Mbuemo then ran past The Saints’ midfield like they were ghosts. He threaded it into the path of Wissa but Ramsdale got down well to save his shot. The hosts managed to clear their lines but immediately gave away a free-kick out wide. As it was crossed in, Norgaard got a head to it but saw his effort strike the crossbar and come back out.
Juric’s side managed to create a brief glimpse of goal for Dibling. He seemed to snatch at his chance and put it into the side-netting. The young winger is impressing in his debut top-flight season but still had areas of his game to improve on, understandable with his age and experience. It did get the home fans off their seats however.
Into the second-half and a cross into the danger area presented Wissa with another opportunity. His first shot was well blocked by Harwood-Bellis and the defender did even better to then block the second effort from the Brentford man. He had kept his side in this game as most would have put their mortgage on The Bees’ striker scoring from there.
From the resulting Mbuemo corner, van den Berg arrived to meet it with a header, sending it into the far corner of the goal. It was terrible defending from the hosts as the Brentford defender had a completely free header in the middle of the box. You felt a collective groan from the home fans as if to say ‘ah well, that’s the end of that. Same time next week?’ to the person sat next to them.
However, the hosts were saved by a VAR review that deemed there was a foul in the build-up and the referee reversed his decision. Brentford then countered from a Southampton attack and Wissa was clean through on goal but blazed his shot over the crossbar. The striker held his head in his hands seemingly in shock with his miss.
Moments later he picked up the ball again on the edge of the box. He laid it off to Mbuemo who smashed the ball into the back of the net to put this result beyond doubt. He may well be the next Brentford player that Frank is bombarded with calls about as the transfer window is now active once again. Not that The Bees will want to lose their talisman.
Mbuemo lofted a cross into the box and van den Berg was bundled over in the box. The referee did not hesitate and pointed to the spot. The winger stepped up to take it and slotted into the far corner to ensure that the visitors were on course for their first away win of the season. Thomas Frank will be overjoyed to finally get this monkey off his side’s back.
The visitors were not done yet and Mbuemo picked out Lewis-Potter at the back post. He drilled his shot into the far corner as the home fans started to leave in their droves. Not that this should have come as a surprise to them, they have been getting it handed to them for the majority of the season so far. This is a club way out of their depth in the top-flight.
A mistake from Sugawara set Wissa through on goal. The striker made no mistake this time as he curled his shot into the far corner, giving Ramsdale no chance of denying him. Brentford had sealed their first away win of the season in emphatic style. Thomas Frank will have travelled back on the team coach to the capital with a big smile on his face, that was for sure.
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