With Ryan Bertrand opening the scoring at the weekend at St Mary’s Stadium as we hosted Leicester City, by the full-time whistle there was plenty to be disappointed about as they took a 2-1 victory with the winning coming after Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg had been sent from the pitch for two bookable offences.
The disappointments write themselves really but manager Mark Hughes was determined to take the positives from the performances.
One clear positive in the eyes of many fans was the individual showing of midfielder Mario Lemina, and added to that was the fact that he and Hojbjerg – prior to being sent off – showed plenty of signs of finally forming some kind of partnership in the middle of the park.
Taking to social media to discuss the match before and after the full-time whistle, Lemina was the go-to player for these fans who were impressed with his efforts on the day.
Lemina and Højbjerg partnership finally developing – looking very confident and composed in the first half. Some defensively frailties dealing with Leicester’s attack – but that should come as no surprise with the pace they possess. Redmond is living up to potential. #SaintsFC
— Scott Winter (@ScottWSFC) August 25, 2018
What a game Lemina is having #saintsfc
— Saint (@saintslick81) August 25, 2018
What a gladiator Lemina ????????
— Southampton Chile (@Saints_Chile) August 25, 2018
Lemina MOTM at the moment, with Vestergaard 2nd choice. Leicester having a lot of the ball right now #saintsfc
— Matt Kemp (@matt_kempez) August 25, 2018
And Vestergaard, at least for that “bull rush” he just made with the ball!
— All The Winning… (@sockalexis2003) August 25, 2018
@solentsport Cedric liability at far post with his height again, Hojberg off means the space came available to exploit and who but Harry Maguire Betrand's goal, Redmond and Lemina's performance the only things to take out of this game another long season ahead..
— Roger Toye (@RogerToye1) August 25, 2018
still a few positives to take away from the loss though. lemina and hojbjerg controlled the midfield very well in the first half, but PEH still doing a few clumsy things every time he's on, and in this case it sadly cost us the game
— Nick (@saintsnick21) August 25, 2018
Honestly if you think Hojbjerg>Lemina please just rethink life
— N (@LeminaERA) August 25, 2018
Whilst most fans do seem to have watched a different game to Hughes, we have to hope these small glimpses finally see the whole squad click for the confidence boost one or two really positive showings and results would bring as we look to finally rid ourselves of any hangover from last season. As you can see though, not everyone agrees with the glimpses others thought they saw.
