European Super Football

The race for automatic promotion to the Premier League is shaping up to be a nail-biter. Last season's relegated teams Leicester City, Leeds United and Southampton are all eager to make a swift return to the top flight.  However, Kieran McKenna's Ipswich side currently holds the lead at the top of the table in a tense four-way contest. As the new year rolled in, Enzo Maresca's Leicester seemed destined to secure promotion straight back to the Premier League. They were sitting pretty at the top of the Championship table, boasting a commanding 13-point lead over Southampton in third place. However, after Southampton's victory over Preston on Tuesday, the promotion battle has tightened considerably, with four teams now in the mix and only a handful of games left to play. The best place to find more news from the Championship  What do the fans think? Jamie, a Leicester City fan, said: "The league has been so unpredictable that making any predictions is foolish. I d

 West Brom 0 - 2 Southampton Southampton made an impressive recovery after their long unbeaten streak came to an end during the week, as they comfortably defeated West Bromwich Albion to reclaim the second spot in the Championship. Just three nights after suffering a 3-1 defeat at Bristol City, their first loss in 25 games, Russell Martin's strong and efficient team secured a victory against fifth-placed Albion with well-executed goals from Ryan Fraser and David Brooks in each half. Although Albion were thrown off by the early departure of head coach Carlos Corberan, who was unexpectedly shown a red card for attempting to retrieve the ball from his technical area before it had gone out of play, the hosts failed to put up much resistance against Southampton. It was only their fourth home league defeat in 31 games since Corberan took charge 16 months ago. The incident that led to Corberan's dismissal seemed to unsettle West Brom, but Southampton's Adam Armstrong had alre

Swansea City 1 - 3 Southampton Southampton set a new club record with an unbeaten streak of 21 games, as they secured a 3-1 victory in Russell Martin's return to Swansea City.  The Saints are now well in the race for automatic promotion to the Premier League.  Che Adams opened the scoring just six minutes into the game, slotting home from close range. The momentum continued to shift in Southampton's favour as Will Smallbone tapped in their second goal. However, Swansea managed to pull one back against the run of play with a Jamie Paterson header. The Saints then swiftly regained control, with Flynn Downes' 20-yard drive deflecting into the net. Despite Swansea's late rally , including Jerry Yates and Paterson hitting the woodwork, Southampton comfortably held on to secure three points. This impressive unbeaten run in all competitions surpassed their previous record of a 20-game sequence set in 1921. For Southampton boss Russell Martin, this victory held particular

Southampton 1 - 4 Leicester City Jamie Vardy scored after 21 seconds to set Leicester City up for a comfortable victory at Southampton. Leicester went in at half-time 3-1 in front after goals from McAteer (18'minutes) and Ndidi (45'+3minutes) put them in a comfortable position. A goal from Edozie gave them some brief hope as they temporarily reduced the deficit. Former Juventus forward Mavididi missed a huge opportunity just after the hour but made amends with the night's best goal. Many Southampton fans are concerned about the goals they were conceding. Their miserable night ended with Kamaldeen Sulemana receiving a straight red card in the closing seconds of the game for a clumsy tackle on James Justin. Highlights You can watch highlights of the match in the video below. Footage from  EFL YouTube account @gavintsang5778 commented on these highlights: "I expect both Southampton and Leicester will be fighting for promotion come end of the season.  But having wat

Southampton 0 - 2 Fulham Let's explore all of the best reaction as Southampton's 11-year stay in the Premier League ended in tame fashion.  Aleksandar Mitrovic, making his return from an eight-game ban for pushing referee Chris Kavanagh, sealed Saints' fate with a stooping header after Carlos Vinicius' opener. You'd have to say it was apt that their relegation should be confirmed at their home ground. They have picked up a poor 10 points out of a possible 57. They will have to improve this form if they want to escape the Championship next season. What did the Southampton boss say? Southampton boss Ruben Selles told BBC Match of the Day: “It is a very tough day – for me, for everybody in the dressing room, for the city, for the fans. It has been a tough season for all of us.  We have been fighting not to be relegated from the very beginning, and the day came today. I just want to say thank you to everybody for the support we felt from the very first day." T

Let's explore how a chaotic day in the Premier League unfolded.  There were 21 goals across three matches.  Click here to read more Premier League news and stories:  Premier League news (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com) Fulham 5-3 Leicester First up was Fulham v Leicester. The home side opened the scoring through a Willian free-kick before strikes from Carlos Vinicius and Tom Cairney raced them into a 3-0 lead at half-time.  Cairney added another in the second half before Harvey Barnes pulled a goal back for the away side, who also saw Jamie Vardy miss a penalty. Willian re-established Fulham's four-goal lead with another superb strike before Maddison netted Leicester's second with a spot-kick and Barnes scored a late third.      This was the reaction of James Maddison after the match. He tweeted in response: "We were not good enough today and we’ve only got ourselves to blame and apologise for that. But as someone who sees the work we are doing every single day

 Manchester United 0 - 0 Southampton Manchester United suffered a frustrating 0-0 draw against Southampton at Old Trafford, after Casemiro was sent off in the first half. The Brazilian midfielder was given his marching orders for a challenge on Carlos Alcaraz. Referee Anthony Taylor initially held up a yellow card, before a VAR check persuaded him it was serious foul play. The home side's best chance of the game fell to Bruno Fernandes. His curling effort forced Saints goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu to make a great save to force it onto the post. United Review: Reds held against Southampton  David De Gea’s heroics helped to keep the game goalless. He first denied Theo Walcott in the first half with an incredible reflex save from close range.  United started off with a series of quick counterattacks. The best of those came when Antony tried to find the run of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, but the right-back’s cross was easily dealt with by the opposition defence.  The away side managed to create

Who will Southampton look at next? Their board have faced another disappointment as they look for someone to face the recently dismissed Nathan Jones. Focus 🔛 pic.twitter.com/4CJxLAbSvE — Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) February 17, 2023 It has been reported that the club ended their interest in making Jesse Marsch their new manager after talks broke down over the proposed length of contract. It was believed that Marsch  had positive conversations with Southampton officials this week and was expected to succeed Nathan Jones. Having agreed to take over verbally, negotiations with the American faltered because Southampton were only prepared to offer him a contract until the end of the season. However, Marsch was hoping for a longer-term deal. Premier League: Southampton sack Nathan Jones (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com) Rubén Sellés remains in the main job for now First-team coach Rubén Sellés will continue to take the team in training and for Saturday’s match at Chelsea, with

Southampton need their third manager of the season Who will they appoint next? #SaintsFC has parted company with Men’s First Team Manager Nathan Jones. — Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) February 12, 2023 After a defeat against ten-man Wolves in the Premier League, Southampton has announced the sacking of Nathan Jones. Jones is Southampton's shortest-serving boss in the Premier League era. He lost nine of 14 matches after taking the job on 10 November. His record included eight defeats in nine Premier League games and four successive home losses at St Mary's. Reaction The short statement on the Southampton statement reads:  "Southampton Football Club can confirm it has parted company with Men’s First Team Manager Nathan Jones. First Team Coaches Chris Cohen and Alan Sheehan have also left the club. First Team Lead Coach Rubén Sellés will take charge of training and prepare the team ahead of next weekend’s game against Chelsea." The press conference below turned o

 Southampton 2 - 1 Blackpool The Saints have done well in the EFL Cup, can they do similar in the FA Cup Southampton's Romain Perraud scored either side of half-time as his side survived a fightback by Championship strugglers Blackpool to reach the next round of the cup. Perraud broke the deadlock with a thumping effort into the far corner midway through the first half. He doubled his and Saints' tally just after the hour mark, collecting Sekou Mara's return pass before finishing confidently past visiting goalkeeper Chris Maxwell. Blackpool twice went close to cancelling out Perraud's opener but Gerry Yates and Ian Poveda both failed to make the most of good opportunities. Arsenal loanee Charlie Patino converted Yates' pass to reduce the arrears with just under 25 minutes left, but Nathan Jones' team held on. Reaction Ryan, a Blackpool fan, said: "It was a decent performance from us, but we just didn't have the quality in the final third. Promising si

Premier League club Southampton have been taken over by a company backed by Serbian media mogul Dragan Solak. They have confirmed Sport Republic has bought Chinese businessman Gao Jisheng's 80% stake. Gao took over Southampton in August 2017, with Katharina Liebherr retaining 20%.of ownership. With this new deal, Liebherr will continue to own her minority stake Saints are 14th in the Premier League, after being promoted to the top flight of English football in 2012. Before this time, they had spent time in third tier of English football thanks to clear mismanagement on and off the pitch. They have remained steady in the Premier League and are potentially in a decent position to make the next step. Reaction Martin Semmens, CEO of Southampton Football Club, told the Southampton website: “Over the last two years, together with the shareholders of our club, we have searched for the right partner to take the club forward. Today we have found the perfect solution for our club. “Sport

Southampton 1 - 1 Tottenham Hotspur Southampton held Tottenham to a draw despite playing with 10 men for over 50 minutes at St Mary's. Ralph Hasenhuttl's side started well when James Ward-Prowse cut across a bouncing ball to volley a swerving shot past Hugo Lloris for a superb opener. The home side looked to have undone their great work when Mohammed Salisu fouled Son Heung-min in the box to earn himself a second booking in a short period of time. This allowed Harry Kane to score. In the second 45 minutes, Spurs twice had the ball in the net. Kane saw a strike ruled out by VAR for a narrow offside. Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster was then spared own-goal blushes when it was judged he was fouled by Matt Doherty. Reaction from St Mary's Spurs Head Coach Antonio Conte was annoyed that his side didn't take advantage of the extra man. He told the club's website: “We have to be a bit frustrated for the final result. We’ve played a lot, the last three games against

 Adam Armstrong's early goal helped Southampton continue their revival in the Premier League Aston Villa are clearly short on confidence. They got off to a disastrous start with Matt Cash failing to clear a long ball and Armstrong smashing in a sensational first-time effort from 20 yards. Watch the highlights in the video below. You'd have to wonder if Aston Villa boss Dean Smith is starting to feel the pressure. He told BBC Sport: "We started [well] the first couple of minutes, then a cross hits Matty Cash on the bum and drops down for their lad who hits a superb half-volley to score. That knocked the stuffing out of us. "When you're on a bad run, something like that is hard to take. They were the better team in the first half." More Aston Villa news can be found by clicking here The Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl one the other hand was clearly delighted with his side's performance. They are now up to 12th in the Premier League table. Hasenhuttl tol

Manchester City could not find a way through a resolute Southampton side and they were fortunate to get a draw despite the noisy backing of their home fans.  City did not manage a single shot on target until the 90th minute. They were sloppy also in possession and lacked their usual spark in attack. Southampton will feel they should have left Manchester with all three points, not just one. See the highlights of the match in the video below. Social media reaction The Manchester City view The City manager said: "We didn’t win because the balls forward were not good. They had four or five in the box, they were there. That is not the reason. It is because we didn’t do our process with the back four and Ferna. Those five players have to bring the ball forward for the others." PEP 💬 You can be set back and counter attack or you can be direct. Our process is to pass the ball from defence through midfield to the wingers. In that process you move all together. It was difficult, t