Southampton recorded their biggest victory of the season as they beat ten-man Blackburn Rovers 4-0 at St Mary’s on Saturday.
Russell Martin‘s side were dominant, but the game was made much more comfortable by Blackburn’s Callum Britain’s moment of insanity as he kicked the ball away for a second yellow card on 55 minutes.
Southampton were 1-0 up at that stage thanks to Sam Edozie’s second goal in as many games, but the game was relatively in the balance until the sending off. From then on, Southampton were much more clinical than we have seen this season, as Stuart Armstrong, Sékou Mara and Carlos Alcaraz added to the tally.
There were several brilliant performances, with Stuart Armstrong excelling in midfield and Mara with a fantastic cameo from the bench that saw him get a goal and win the penalty that Alcaraz inexplicably chipped over the bar.
Jan Bednarek shows why he is Russell Martin’s ‘Mr. Reliable’
Despite the comfortable second half, it was a defender whose statistics caught the eye in the drubbing of Blackburn.
That man was Poland international Jan Bednarek, who is enjoying a remarkable comeback having seemingly burnt his bridges at the club when he joined Aston Villa on loan at the start of last season.
The Daily Echo gave Bednarek’s performance an eight out of ten in their match ratings, stating that the centre-back had: “Excellent numbers in the first-half in both possession and against the ball. Played the full 90 minutes and helped to record another clean sheet. Has become Mr. Reliable.”
The clean sheet was Southampton’s third in a row at home, in their fifth consecutive St Mary’s win, as part of a 14-game unbeaten run in the Championship. Bednarek has been key to that run and the 27-year-old has become a really integral member of Martin’s side.
How did Jan Bednarek perform v Blackburn Rovers?
The numbers referred to in the match rating are quite remarkable. As a defender in a Martin team, you have to be good on the ball and are crucial to the build-up play the ex-Swansea City boss expects to see. In possession, Bednarek had 170 touches which was 42 more than anyone else, made 155 passes with a pass accuracy of 97%, and completed five long balls, as per Sofascore.
Some questioned at the start of the season whether Bednarek was good enough on the ball to play the style that Martin wants, but the £36k-a-week titan has shown he is more than capable. This performance with the ball did not come at the cost of his defensive work either, with Bednarek solid as he made four interceptions, two blocks, one tackle and was not dribbled past once.
Club captain Jack Stephens made his return from injury as he came on for Taylor Harwood-Bellis on 66 minutes. With Stephens returning, the pressure is on both Harwood-Bellis and Bednarek to keep their place.
If one of the pair is to lose their place to Stephens, Bednarek will be determined to make sure it isn’t him. The performance against Blackburn certainly helps his cause.