Too hot to handle

SILENT TRIBUTE... the Athletic players observe a minute’s silence for former midfielder Richard Butcher, who died at the age of 29.

3 More Image(s) In Gallery

Athletic 0, Southampton 6

Stunned Latics smashed to bits by rampant Saints
ATHLETIC fans can be forgiven for taking stock this morning.

A 6-0 defeat is a deeply unpleasant score to lose by and it is one that won’t sit well with manager Paul Dickov. At least he has only three days to stew over the biggest defeat the club has suffered for eight years.

But after watching such a comprehensive performance, it is difficult to reflect that victors Southampton are merely good enough to gain promotion from npower League One.

No. Despite Brighton’s good form up to now, this is a side who should by rights romp away with the title from here on in — and then have a decent go at promotion to the Premier League without needing to change a thing.

The danger signs were all over the pre-match team sheet, which dripped with class.

And once the game started, with Southampton flying into tackles and brushing off physical battles with contemptuous ease, the writing was on the wall for Athletic at Boundary Park.

Right from elegant centre-back Jose Fonte, who bullied Oumare Tounkara from start to finish — the first time that has happened this season — through terrific sitting midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin and up to star striker Rickie Lambert, Saints were just far, far too good.

And that is without even mentioning jet-heeled £10million-rated winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who showed exactly why Liverpool’s Director of Football Strategy, Damien Comolli, is following his progress from game to game like an eager lap dog.

Not only supremely quick and eager to pile forward at every given opportunity from the start up to injury time at the end of 90 minutes, Nigel Adkins’ side ran all over Athletic.

It truly was men against boys.

Athletic had two sniffs at changing the destiny of the contest.

First, on-loan goalkeeper Ben Amos let an Adam Lallana shot slip between his legs for a soft second goal.

Then just before half-time, Tounkara had two bites of a ripe cherry in front of goal but could take neither, his initial header bouncing off the post and a fortuitous ricochet seconds later resulting in him scuffing hurriedly wide of an open goal.

To say the least, it is stretching credulity to suggest that had either moment gone the home side’s way the end result would have been a whole lot different.

While Southampton’s qualities were admirable, it is also fair to say that Athletic — now on an unwanted run of three defeats in four — were poor in certain areas.

Up front, Tounkara was a shadow of his usual rambunctious self and in midfield, the central two players weren’t helped much by their wingers Cedric Evina and Felipe Morais, who failed to exert enough influence on and off the ball.

All over the field, Athletic didn’t get ‘in the faces’ of Saints nearly enough.

And the space allowed to the likes of Lambert, Adam Lallana and Chamberlain proved to be costly.

Saints started the game at full pelt and, after Guly do Prado had forced Amos into a stretching save in only the second minute, the goal that set the tone soon followed.

Lambert calmly brought down Schneiderlin’s far-post cross which sailed over the head of Paul Black and squared the ball past Amos for Chamberlain to blast home from the centre of the penalty area.

Dean Furman was booked for a foul on the flying Chamberlain and another Schneiderlin cross, again cushioned down by Lambert, narrowly eluded Lallana.

Amos dived bravely at the feet of Lallana to deny rampant Saints a second but the respite was brief.

A two-on-one situation on the left wing left Kieran Lee exposed and Lallana cut inside before hitting a shot which Amos let squirm through his legs and into the net.

Chamberlain cut inside Black and fired wide inches wide of the far post off the back of a wonderful raking pass from Schneiderlin.

But Athletic could and should have halved the deficit. Dale Stephens produced a peach of a cross which Tounkara did well to direct to the far post — too literally from the home side’s viewpoint — before wasting his second opportunity.

Kirk Millar replaced Evina at half-time and a piece of swift attacking football from the home team almost resulted in a goal for hard-working Chris Taylor, only for good defending by Radhi Jaidi to deny the striker a header six yards out at the far post.

The third Saints goal arrived after 52 minutes. A quick break ended with Lambert squaring the ball from the byline on the right wing and Do Prado slammed home a cool low finish.

Ryan Brooke replaced Felipe Morais as Athletic looked to put pressure on the visiting defence.

It was still one-way traffic, though.

Chamberlain smashed the ball home from 20 yards out but his effort was ruled out for offside, but only seven minutes later Richard Chaplow ran onto a loose ball to fire high past an unsighted Amos for Southampton’s fourth.

Lambert grabbed the fifth after substitute Oscar Gobern had his effort saved by the legs of Amos.

A five-on-three opportunity for the visitors was wasted by a poor Chaplow pass and Do Prado should have done better with the goal at his mercy six minutes from time.

There was still time for a sixth goal though, as substitute Lee Barnard became the sixth scorer of a superb night for cut-above Southampton by beating the offside trap and slipping round Amos.




Latics’ next game— Saturday (v Plymouth, away, npower League One)