Southampton defeated Dutch side Vitesse Arnheim 3-0 in the first leg of the 3rd qualifying round of the Europa League, as Graziano Pellè, Dusan Tadic and Shane Long provided the goals for the home side.
Surprising team news
Before the match had even started, there was a surprise in the Southampton squad for the game. Talented striker Jay Rodriguez was left out of the squad completely, raising suspicion in his case after scoring a hat-trick in a previous friendly and having an article about him ‘raring to go’ on the club’s official website just hours before the game.
Nevertheless, the Saints used Pellè as the main striker, with Tadic and Sadio Mané completing the front three.
First half
The first chance of the game came after just three minutes and it fell to the Dutch side. In what turned out to be a theme throughout the first half, Vitesse knocked a long ball forward over the head of Maya Yoshida to Valeri Kazaishvili, who dragged his shot inches wide.
Southampton, who finished seventh in the Premier League last season, started to settle into the game shortly thereafter, with the tempo of the game slowing down considerably as neither side looked willing to commit bodies forward too early.
Both sides exchanged half-chance headers from corners with neither causing much trouble. Yoshida’s header from Tadic’s corner was saved comfortably. While at the other end, Uros Djurdevic got up well only to direct his header wide of the target.
The first real chance of the game fell to the Saints in the 23rd minute, when midfielder Victor Wanyama found himself with so much time to set himself and pick his spot, but his shot was comfortably parried by 'keeper Eloy Room. Yoshida was there for the follow up but the Japanese defender dragged his shot wide.
The tone of the game was set at the 30 minute mark, with Southampton dominating possession and Vitesse happy to depend on the counter-attack tactic.
Breakthrough from Pellè
36 minutes in, Italalian international Graziano Pellè finally broke the deadlock for the favourites. The impressive Sadio Mané slid a beautiful pass through to Pellé, who smashed home an excellent finish into the roof of the net.
Mané was at it again right at the end of the first half. The silky dribbler drew a challenge at the edge of the box, leading the referee to point to the spot. Serbian Tadic stepped up to give a Southampton a comfortable 2-0 lead heading into the break.
Second half
After a noticeable improvement at the beginning of the second period by Vitesse, the first chance fell to Southampton when the Dutch side failed to clear their lines, only for the Pellé to mess up his first-time effort.
At the hour-mark, Southampton’s newly acquired Dutch international Jordie Clasie appeared to be injured and was subsequently replaced by another new signing in the form of Spanish forward Juanmi. Another substitution was made at the same time by the Saints as Tadic was replaced by Shane Long.
New Southampton goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg was rarely called into action, but he had to do well to stop a first time shot by substitute striker Danilo Pantic in the 70th minute.
Nine minutes later Vitesse missed another chance as Lewis Baker’s free-kick fell to Milot Rashica, who blasted his shot over the bar.
The sides reversed roles in the second half, with Vitesse enjoying the majority of the possession and Southampton happy to protect their lead and swiftly hit Vitesse on the break.
Substitutes combine to finish it off
The Saints did just that in the 84th minute when Shane Long raced towards goal, but failed to beat the goalkeeper with his shot. The loose ball from Room’s save was picked up by the other substitute Juanmi, who dinked a pass back to Long. The Irishman easily scored from three yards out to make it 3-0.
It was great return for Southampton, as they got their first win in European football since 1981. The Saints fully deserved their victory and they have now put themselves in a great position to qualify for the Europa League proper before they play Vitesse in Holland on August 6th.