Southampton’s slim hopes of automatic promotion were given a crushing blow as they lost to Cardiff on Saturday.
Russell Martin‘s side went into the game full of confidence on the back of three consecutive wins.
A win against Cardiff would have seen them really apply pressure on the top two ahead of a trip to Leicester City on Tuesday night.
The situation ahead of the midweek clash has not changed, with Southampton knowing nothing short of a win is acceptable. However, this would just about keep their season alive rather than throw them right into the mix for a top two finish.
Joe Aribo continued his recent good form to put the Saints ahead after just 12 minutes, but the likes of Che Adams and David Brooks squandered a host of opportunities to put the game to bed.
That came back to bite Southampton in the second-half, with a 68th-minute strike from substitute Famara Diedhiou levelling the scores before 19-year-old Cian Ashford made it 2-1 to Cardiff in the 96th-minute.
To concede so late when chasing all three points was a cruel blow and Jan Bednarek was the unfortunate player to deflect Ashford’s strike into the corner in an otherwise very solid performance from the Pole.
Matt Le Tissier sums up how Southampton fans feel
This outcome felt like deja vu, with Southampton being punished at various points across this campaign for failing to make their dominance count.
This sentiment is shared amongst the fanbase and legendary Saint Matt Le Tissier is no different.
Southampton’s record Premier League goalscorer with 102 goals, Le Tissier, took to ‘X’ – formerly Twitter – at full-time, where he simply summed up the game by posting: “You can’t miss that many clear cut chances and win football matches.”
Whilst this may appear to be an oversimplification of how events unfolded, it is difficult to argue against what Le Tissier said.
According to Sofascore, the Saints had 62% possession against Cardiff, whilst they had 21 shots. The problem was they only hit the target with eight of these attempts and missed a huge five big chances.
Cardiff, on the other hand, hit the target with seven of their ten efforts on Alex McCarthy‘s goal.
The Southampton attempts don’t even account for Brooks’ blunder as, despite having an empty goal to aim at, he failed to get a shot off and allowed the Cardiff goalkeeper to recover.
Southampton could really use a finisher of Le Tessier’s quality
Le Tissier is widely considered Southampton’s greatest ever player.
The fact he was a one club man through his career despite numerous offers to join more prestigious clubs only adding to his adoration at the club from which he graduated the academy.
As a player, Le Tissier was known for his flair and ability to create moments of magic out of very little; something Southampton lack currently.
Adams was the man in form going into the Cardiff game, having scored five in his last three, but was unable to add to his tally.
Adam Armstrong is Southampton’s top goalscorer this season, with 20 goals as well as 13 assists according to Transfermarkt. The 27-year-old saw Ethan Horvath in the Cardiff goal pull off a fine save to deny his diving header from point blank range.
Southampton’s lack of efficiency in goal is a familiar tale this season which seems remarkable when you consider they have scored the joint most goals in the league (85) with Ipswich Town this season.
The problem is that, whilst they have really put some teams to the sword, they have spurned far too many opportunities in games they should put to bed and are not defensively resilient enough to see games out when that does occur.
Unfortunately for Southampton, that is exactly the reason their season is looking likely to end in play-offs rather than automatic promotion.