Southampton may have just got their promotion push back on track in the most dramatic of cirsumstaces.
Travelling to St Andrew’s to face Birmingham City, the Saints were looking to bounce back from a run of four defeats in their last five games.
That had seen them slide to 4th in the Championship table, losing ground in the battle for automatic promotion.
However, with Leeds United being held to a 1-1 draw by Huddersfield Town in the early kickoff, there was a chance for Russell Martin‘s side to close that gap.
In the end, they were able to do that, after a last minute Joe Aribo goal secured a 4-3 win for Southampton in the Midlands.
Joe Aribo hailed after big contribution
Having come off the bench with 20 minutes of normal time remaining, Aribo certainly made an impact for the Saints.
According to SofaScore, the Southampton midfielder completed 19/21 of his passes after being brought off the bench.
He was also involved in two duels, before turning in a corner from close range to claim that crucial last minute winner for his side.
Now it seems as though there is a belief among some, that it was a well earned goal for the midfielder.
Taking to X to give his verdict on that goal, Daily Echo journalist Alfie House wrote:
“Joe Aribo from a corner. The away end think it’s won. Absolute limbs. It might be but not yet. The late show again. Aribo rewarded for his performances. Southampton lead again. Just over two mins left. 3-4.”
Next up for Southampton is the visit of Preston North End to St Mary’s on Wednesday night.
Southampton have big selection call to make
It will be interesting to see how Martin approaches the situation with Aribo after this latest big contribution.
There is an argument that he may now have to start in Southampton’s next match, on the back of a performance and contribution such as this.
However, it is now two goals from his last two appearances as a substitute for the midfielder.
In between those two goals as a substitute, Aribo has been named in the starting lineup twice for Southampton.
Those outings though, have seen the midfielder unable to make that same sort of impact in front of goal.
As a result, it may be argued that Martin could be tempted to continue to use Aribo in that role, given it seems to bring the best out of him.
Of course, that is unlikely to be how the midfielder wants to be used, given every player we be targeting as much game time as possible.
Ultimately though, Southampton need advantage they can get in the race for promotion. Evidently, that leaves Martin with a big call to make on Aribo.