Six goals, Six different scorers and the fifth straight win in a row. It was our biggest win since Wolves away in the 2006/07 season. It was truly a magnificent night for the Saints as we cemented our second position in the League 1 table, but watch out Brighton we are coming, and with a performance like that we are going to win this league. The confidence in the Squad is just fantastic at the moment. They haven’t played this well since the days of Gordon Strachan and we are only heading in one direction.
The six goals tonight meant that we have now got a better goal difference than Brighton and are just 3 points behind. We could go top of the table on Saturday if results go our way. Adkins has got a superb handling of this side and enough in the squad to win this league convincingly. In the last 5 matches we have scored 19 goals an average of 3.8 goals a game.
Adkins started the night with several changes from the side that overcame Blackpool at the weekend with Davis, Fonte, Jaidi, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Chaplow all coming back into the side. Disappointly Puncheon didn’t make the squad leading to rumours he may well be back on his way out but apparent he had an illness. Team Captain Dean Hammond was also out after picking up a calf injury.
Saints made a great start to the game with Adam Lallana getting an early shot away and it wasn’t long before Saints took the lead. Fresh from signing his new contract Lallana swept in a cross to the back post. Ricky Lambert expertly found Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain who smashed the ball home from close in. Oldham 0 -1 Southampton. Following Saints first goal the game started to settle down a bit with good possession for both sides. Oxlade-Chamberlain threatened again but his shot was fired straight at the keeper. It wasn’t long before Saints doubled their lead with a howler from lactics keeper Ben Amos. Lallana’s shot from outside the area went straight through the legs of the Oldham stopper and into the back of the net on 38 minutes. Oldham 0 – 2 Southampton. Saints didn’t stop there though instead of settling down for half time they wanted a third. Oxlade-Chamberlain had a fantastic chance that went narrowly wide. Oldham should have halved their deficit at the break though but Oumare had a mare and when his header came back to him of the post he put it wide when it was easier to score.
Dickov had obvioulsy given his men a stiff talking to at half time because they started the half well but it wasn’t long before Saints showed their dominance once more. Scheiderlin with the long ball to Lambert, Lambert to Gully on the edge of the area, Gully to goal with a lovely drive. Oldham 0-3 Southampton. Soon after it was four and another fantastic strike but this time from midfield maestro Richard Chaplow. Lallana’s deflected cross was met by the number 30 on the edge of the area and before the keeper could get a hand to it, it nestled in the top corner. Oldham 0-4 Southampton.
With the game won, Adkins made his first substitution of the match Oscar Gobern replacing Adam Lallana. No sooner had the change been made Saints hit a sixth. Gobern’s pressure forced the Oldham defence to find Lambert who struck in a low hard shot to the left of the goal. Oldham 0-5 Southampton. Get the party started. However Saints weren’t done there and as the clock ticked away Adkins made a double substitution. Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jaidi coming on for Barnard and Seaborne. Barnard had only been on two minutes before being the Saints sixth different scorer of the night he latched on to a Gully do Prado through ball, rounded the keeper and shot into the empty net. Oldham 0-6 Southampton.
Overall it was a commanding performance by an assured Southampton side. Saints looked just as comfortable off the ball as they did on it. They took their chances and made sure they shut Oldham down. What a game!