Southampton and Swansea played out a draw at St. Mary's as Swansea hit back to deny Nigel Adkins' side the win.
Southampton vs. Swansea: Final score 1-1, stalemate for Saints and Swans
Swansea struck back to deny Southampton a much-needed win as the two sides played out a draw at St. Mary’s Stadium.
The home side started the stronger of the two teams and quickly created a string of chances. Adam Lallana went close with an effort that Gerhard Tremmell had to be alert to tip around the post before Gaston Ramirez's free-kick was almost turned in. Swansea were second-best for much of the first half, but did almost score through Ki Seung-Yeung, the former Celtic midfielder cutting inside and letting fly at the Saints goal, but Paolo Gazzaniga was alert to deny him.
As the second half started, the Swans almost took the lead again, with Wayne Routledge narrowly missing the target from range, but Southampton began to impose themselves more forcefully on the game. A last-ditch tackle was needed from Ki Seung-Yeung to deny Rickie Lambert, before the Saints striker spotted an opportunity to play Morgan Schneiderlin in, who nodded past Tremmell to put the home side 1-0 up.
Southampton have had possibly the worst defence in the league so far this season, and they showed it by surrendering their lead soon after having earned it, with a calamitous error, first from Gazzaniga with a poor pass, and secondly from Maya Yoshida failing to deal with it, allowed Nathan Dyer to swoop in and thump the ball in off the post.
It was a frustrating end to the game for Southampton, who had worked hard to put themselves in the lead before throwing away the points. They simply cannot go on defending in the manner they have been if they are to escape the relegation zone, particularly since their attack has hardly been irresistible either. Swansea, meanwhile, were lucky to get a draw, having been lacklustre for much of the game. If it wasn’t already, the honeymoon period for Michael Laudrup is well and truly over.
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