NUFC player ratings vs Southampton – Three 7’s, four 6’s, a few 5’s and two 4’s

Another poor performance and another frustrating result, with us taking the lead twice through Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin but conceding a 96th minute penalty to throw away what would’ve been our first win of the season.

Here’s our marks out of 10 and comments on each player involved:

STARTING 11:

Woodman – 6 – Forced into three saves in the first half, also doing well to catch a few wicked deliveries from Ward-Prowse. Didn’t have many tough saves to make, but he was a safe pair of hands. Distribution was mixed and he’ll be frustrated he could only palm Elyounoussi’s first effort back out, allowing him to make it 1-1.

Murphy – 5 – Looked naive defensively and was beaten far too easily at times. Lost the ball in bad areas on a couple of occasions and his deliveries into the box were poor at the other end. A decent outlet at times – being one of few trying to beat their man – and did set up Wilson’s opener to his credit, however he gave Redmond too much space for their equaliser and was often

Fernandez – 6 – Our best defender on the day. Made a few vital blocks – denying Djenepo an almost certain goal in the first half – and a couple of important clearances in a first half full of Southampton attacks. Stayed switched on in the 2nd half, but was let down by some desperate last ditch defending late on.

Lascelles – 4 – Struggled with their high press and conceded the late penalty after taking none of the ball when diving in to stop Armstrong. Looked like a player still getting back up to speed after a disjointed pre-season and clearly needs ball players alongside him.

Schar – 5 – Better in the second half as he tried to drive us forward, but he did look off the pace and pretty reckless at times. Got booked for a stupid lunge in the middle of the pitch after an awful touch saw the ball get away from him, however he did make up for that with a brilliant ball to Murphy that helped create our opener.

Ritchie – 4 – Couldn’t handle Livramento’s energy and movement down their right, with the former Chelsea talent so often a free man down his side. Also switched off at the back post for Elyounoussi’s equaliser, failing to track the winger’s run into the box. Tried to keep teammates motivated during our awful start, but was really struggling to keep the pace and didn’t look quick enough to recover on the odd time he crossed the half way line.

S Longstaff – 7 – Made more passes than any other player in a black and white shirt and was one of the driving forces behind a more competitive second half display. Did struggle to cope with the Saints onslaught in the first half, however. It wasn’t easy to look good today, so fair play to him for stepping up.

Willock – 6 – One of our better players, yet still way below his best. A few driving runs forward and a great bit of dribbling in the opening few minutes, however he lost the ball cheaply a few times. That said, he got stuck in and probably won it back as many times as he gave it away. Still rusty, but offered more than most.

Almiron – 5 – Loads of energy and effort, but so much of it was wasted as he was constantly forced to sit so deep and protect a five-man defence unable to get out. A few silly fouls and very little to write home about in the attacking third. Is wasted in this 5-3-2 formation.

Saint-Maximin – 7 – Kept giving the ball away cheaply early on, however it wasn’t easy to make it stick when he was left so isolated! Won a free kick in a dangerous area after bursting past three or four in yellow shirts and was our biggest threat on the break, before coming alive in the second half. Scored what we thought was the winner, was always looking to get in behind and came within a whisker of finding Joelinton with a few brilliant balls into the box. Not at his best, but easily our biggest threat.

Wilson – 6.5 – Some decent bits of hold up play and a decent header stopped by McCarthy just before the break, yet he didn’t look as sharp as we’ve come to expect, appearing to be nursing a knock to his thight. Like ASM, he was so isolated and forced to do far too much on his own, so it’s no surprise he was sometimes wasteful. That said, he still managed to get himself a goal, being a fox in the box to head home Murphy’s knockdown.

SUBS:

Joelinton – 6 – Helped create ASM’s late goal, with his run in behind, clever turn and cut-back for Ryan Fraser helping keep the attack going. Almost latched onto a few balls into the box and looked pretty sharp.

Fraser – 5 – A pretty quiet cameo, aside from having a shot blocked on the line just before Saint-Maximin’s goal.