Southampton suffered their seventh Premier League defeat of the season in heartbreaking circumstances on Saturday.
Southampton looked as though they were cruising to their first three points of the campaign against Leicester City.
Cameron Archer and Joe Aribo gave Russell Martin’s men a two-goal lead inside half an hour as St Marys was sent into pandemonium.
Sadly, that joy soon turned into anger in the second half. Facundo Buonanotte reduced the deficit in the 64th minute before Ryan Fraser was sent off for pulling down Jamie Vardy in the box.
This moment of naivety ultimately cost Southampton as Vardy converted from 12 yards and then Jordan Ayew broke their hearts, striking in the eighth minute of added time.
Fraser’s moment of petulance swung the game in the visitor’s favour however, things could have been completely different if the hosts were awarded a penalty of their own.
Paul Onuachu should have been awarded a penalty vs Leicester City
Martin introduced striker Paul Onuachu from the bench in the 68th minute against the Foxes, replacing Archer up front.
Saints legend Francis Benali was surprised by what he saw from Onuachu in their previous match against Arsenal as he came off the bench for the first time this season.
The 30-year-old looked like he was going to leave in the summer, with reports claiming Onuachu was on the verge of sealing a move to Goztepe.
That never happened and now he’s playing a part in Martin’s plans. In the loss to Leicester, the Nigerian was thrown straight into the action and should have been awarded a penalty when Ayew pulled his shirt in the box.
It was almost identical to Fraser’s shirt pull on Vardy, which saw him receive a red card, but the Saints unfortunately weren’t awarded the chance to go ahead from 12 yards.
Speaking about the incident to Sun Football, former Premier League referee Mark Halsey was asked to give his view, to which he replied: “Absolutely. Both should been given and Vardy’s one was given correctly and that should have been given as well. I just don’t understand how that wasn’t given when they it didn’t impact on that phase of play.
“But of course it does impact on that phase of play because it stops him getting in to challenge for the ball.”
Southampton keep on making the same mistakes
The definition of insanity is making the same errors over and over again and expecting a different result.
For Leicester’s winning goal, Harry Winks found Ayew unmarked on the edge of the box with an outswinging corner but there was no one close enough to block the shot or put pressure on him.
Whilst Martin can be blamed to a certain extent, the players have to take responsibility in that situation as it’s not the first time it’s happened, with Sam Morsy’s equalising goal for Ipswich as a result of poor defending from a set-piece.
Martin was also tactically inept with his substitutions. At 2-0 up, he needed to close the game out, perhaps taking off Ryan Manning for the more defensive Charlie Taylor.
However, he instead brought on Fraser for Yukinari Sugawara, who ultimately cost the Saints by getting sent off.
If Southampton and Martin continuously make the same mistakes, they’re in for a dreadful season.