Southampton vs West Bromwich Albion. Premier League.
St. Mary's Stadium.
Report and free match highlights as Moussa Djenepo scores his first home goal for Southampton, adding to Oriol Romeu's sensational volley; Saints win and keep clean sheet for second successive Premier League game as West Brom's wait for victory goes on
Sunday 4 October 2020 15:40, UK
A stunning volley from Oriol Romeu helped Southampton to a 2-0 Premier League win against West Brom, scoring with his first touch in the opposition box this season.
The midfielder - who had not scored in 43 Premier League games - doubled the Saints' lead in the 69th minute when he fired a powerful volley home, taking his goal tally for the club to six in some style.
Southampton were dominant in the first half and went ahead just before the break through Moussa Djenepo's low strike (41), his first home goal for the club. West Brom were improved in the first 20 minutes after half-time, but the Saints' quality shone through for an ultimately comfortable win.
It is a second successive Premier League win and clean sheet for Southampton, sending them into 10th in the table. West Brom's were unable to capitalise on their 3-3 draw with Chelsea last season as their wait for a first victory back in the top flight continues, leaving them in 17th.
Southampton dominated the first half chances with West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone demonstrating his importance inside five minutes. Stuart Armstrong's superb diagonal pass cut out much of the Baggies defence to find Ryan Bertrand, but the full-back's strike was pushed away superbly by a leaping Johnstone. Armstrong was then picked out by Danny Ings on the left of the area, but Dara O'Shea dealt him well as the Scot's touch headed into the side of the net.
Moments later, Johnstone made two superb reaction saves. Kyle Walker-Peters drove towards the area before attempting to pick out Ings in the area, but Semi Ajayi was ahead of the striker to send the ball towards his goalkeeper, who pushed it away. Che Adams then tried to score from the rebound from point blank range, but Johnstone stuck out a toe to see the ball behind from a corner.
The Saints chances and Johnstone saves kept coming as the game reached the half an hour mark. Ings powered a header goalwards after a trademark James Ward-Prowse free kick, but the West Brom goalkeeper got down low to push it away. Adams looked to be through on goal just minutes later, turning sweetly past Romain Sawyers, but his shot went well wide of the post.
Southampton finally made the breakthrough just before the break in another wonderful attacking move. Adams picked up the ball in midfield and drove towards goal, opting to play in Ings rather than shoot himself. The England striker's cross then bounced off Kyle Bartley before landing nicely for Djenepo, who dummied the West Brom defence before hitting home low through a sea of bodies, beating a blindsided Johnstone.
West Brom clearly had a talking to at half-time and they improved after the break. Almost immediately, Matheus Pereira delivered a wonderful free kick, with O'Shea's header diverted behind by the elbow of Bertrand. There were calls for handball and, had this game been played last weekend, it may have been given. However, a new Premier League directive this week regarding the implementation of the new handball law meant that nothing was given or reviewed by VAR.
Alex McCarthy's only save of note came in the 51st minute as West Brom's period of pressure continued. It was a neat set piece routine from the visitors as Pereira slotted a free kick down the side of a two-man wall for the run of Grady Diangana. His shot was diverted goalwards by Walker-Peters, but the Southampton goalkeeper stuck out a foot to push the effort away.
Southampton needed another goal to put them out of sight and it came in sensational style from an unlikely source. A wonderful pass from Nathan Redmond picked out Armstrong, who cut the ball back to the top of the area, Romeu then stormed onto it, smashing a thunderous volley goalwards with his first touch with Johnstone left powerless to stop it.
West Brom could have scored a reply almost instantly, but Pereira's free kick just bounced too high for Ajayi to connect. From then on, Southampton were back in full control, and could have added a third late on. Ward-Prowse swung another inch-perfect free kick into the area, which grazed the head of Jan Bednarek, but was ultimately pushed over the crossbar by the raised fists of Johnstone as he once again saved West Brom from conceding a 14th goal of the season.
It was a very impressive performance from Armstrong, who seemed to be involved in every bit of attacking play for Southampton. He found himself in good spots to make postive runs, and only a lack of finishing touch from his team-mates early on stopped Saints from taking an earlier lead.
But he did nab his assist for Romeu's sensational volley - again making a great run down the wing as Redmond's pass cut out the Baggies defence - and since the start of last season, no Southampton player has made more assists than Armstrong in the Premier League (4 - joint-most along with Redmond).
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl said: "We were very disciplined against the ball today and were nearly perfect in our pressing. We didn't give any chances away and we managed the ball.
"I'm happy for Moussa that he showed he can score again, it was a good goal. In the second half also, there was a good balance between taking risks when playing out and finding the space behind the last line. We made it very difficult for the opponent to find an answer. The second goal was another thing that was fantastic, a lot of passes before.
"It was a fantastic goal for him [Romeu] and a fantastic game in the midfield. He is very important for us in the moment and as long as he does his work against the ball I'm happy.
"We had a lot of chances again, it's important we get in positions for other players to score goals because it can't always be that Danny [Ings] makes a goal. This is a team.
"We took it very seriously today. Now we have two wins, six points and two clean sheets to take into the international break. We are in a good rhythm now. Hopefully everyone comes back fit."
West Brom manager Slaven Bilic said: "The result is a fair outcome based on the game on the pitch. I'm very disappointed. They were better at everything. They were more aggressive and up for it. It didn't look good. They were quicker and they were stronger. We should have coped with it better.
"I said to the players that we can't play like this and we can't approach games like this. Everything we did well in the first three games was lacking today.
"We have to work harder as a team and take the responsibility. We have to be better. You can't point to one thing and you can't say that we were unlucky.
"Sam [Johnstone] was our best player. When your goalkeeper is the best player and you lose the game 2-0 then you know you have to improve."
The teams will now have a weekend off for the international break. Both teams return to action on Saturday 17 October at 3pm when Southampton travel to Chelsea and West Brom welcome Burnley to The Hawthorns
