Martin rues reaction to first-half setback
Russell Martin was left ruing his team’s reaction to a game-changing moment in the first half of Southampton’s defeat to Manchester United at St Mary’s.
The manager was delighted with Saints’ start to the match, which was rewarded when his side were awarded a 33rd-minute penalty won by exciting 18-year-old Tyler Dibling on his first league start.
But Cameron Archer’s spot-kick was saved by André Onana, and two minutes later United were ahead – a lead they doubled before half time.
Saints’ attempts to find a way back into the contest were dealt a blow by the dismissal of Jack Stephens when he received a straight red card for a foul on Alejandro Garnacho, who subsequently scored United’s third deep into stoppage time.
“We were so good for 30-odd minutes. I thought we were the better team, we looked more like scoring; aggressive, quick, some brilliant football, great moments, good individual performances,” Martin reflected.
“And then we missed the penalty and it took the whole energy out of the stadium, the team, everyone; and understandably so because everyone is waiting for the back of the net to ripple, the first Premier League goal here, so it took the energy out of us.
“It affected us far too much. You can’t respond to a disappointment or a setback in that way and concede the two goals we did. I’m so angry about that, but I can’t be too angry with the players today because they were honestly so good in certain moments.
“But I can be really angry about those couple of moments because that’s not acceptable – it’s been too many times already now. That’s a mentality thing.
“We hadn’t been carved open at that point, we looked so good, so competitive, every bit toe to toe. I felt we were on top, and then we concede two before half time.”
United’s first two goals came from set-piece situations, adding to Martin’s frustration.
“You concede one, you get to half time and see it through, but to concede two and then actually give away another chance at a set-piece, especially with the amount of work we do on set plays and especially after working with their set-piece coach last year, I can’t accept that. I’m so disappointed for everyone that that’s the case, so we’ve got some serious work to do there.
“In the second half we’re trying to gain momentum and energy again. We made four changes and I really liked the look of the team again. I thought we’re going to get back into it, and actually we’re in their box just before Jack gets sent off, and after that we’re trying to avoid too much damage.
“The lads are giving us everything. If they continue to give what they did, especially in the first half-hour, we’re going to have some really good moments, but they have to keep believing in the plan.
“The fans were brilliant today, the way they stuck with their team. I know a few booed when Tyler came off – I didn’t want him to come off either, but he had cramp really badly and couldn’t carry on.
“Everyone needs to stick together in the same way we did last year when we had a bit of pain. I know it’s the Premier League, but the guys should’ve felt in the four games enough moments to really believe that they can impact this league – not just scrape it and try to survive.”
