San zero for Saints after dominating
SOUTHAMPTON paid the price for a string of missed chances as their dreams of a famous win in the San Siro ended in disappointment last night.
Virgil van Dijk, Jay Rodriguez and substitute Charlie Austin all passed up gilt-edged openings only for Inter to secure victory with their sole shot on target from Antonio Candreva.
Frustrated Saints manager Claude Puel said: “It’s very hard to lose this game because we had control of the whole match and Inter scored with their only chance.
“We played a very good game and created many chances, especially in the first half. It was a big disappointment.”
More than 6,000 fans made the trip from the south coast hoping to roar their team to one of the club’s most memorable wins since Lawrie McMenemy’s side beat Manchester United in the 1976 FA Cup final.
It is a measure of how far Saints have come since the dark days of administration and near bankruptcy that they fancied their chances of beating the former European champions.
Only six years ago Saints were playing in League One while their hosts were en route to a Jose Mourinho-inspired treble.
Yet it was Puel’s men who outplayed the Italian side, admittedly languishing in the bottom half of Serie A after a turbulent start to the season.
Academy product Sam McQueen was given a full debut to remember and almost forced an own-goal off keeper Samir Handanovic before full-back Yuto Nagatomo mopped up on the line.
Moments later James WardProwse whipped a strike narrowly over as Saints refused to be overawed by the occasion.
Cuco Martina found plenty of crossing angles down the right and his best delivery skidded off Shane Long only for Rodriguez to fail to slide the ball home.
Top-scorer Charlie Austin was left on the bench by Puel but came on for the hobbling Long three minutes into the second half.
Austin’s journey from playing for non-League Poole Town just seven years ago to the San Siro was another notable story and the former bricklayer’s second touch had Handanovic sprawling but the ball drifted past a post.
For all the hopes of a fairy-tale finish, it was Inter who took the lead against the run of play as Candreva netted his maiden goal for the club with a neat left-foot finish after 67 minutes – the first Saints have conceded in the competition this season. The hosts were forced to play the last 12 minutes a man light after Marcelo Brozovic was sent off for a pair of nasty tackles on Austin and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Dutchman Van Dijk was given the perfect opportunity to grab a deserved point but his one-on-one effort was struck straight at the keeper.
Centre-back Van Dijk went closer still when his towering header was cleared off the line, before Austin had a point-blank strike saved by Handanovic and Hojbjerg flashed wide.
Van Dijk said: “We were the only team that deserved to win and to concede a goal with their only chance is frustrating.
“We should have had the game dead and buried in the first half but that’s what happens in football if you don’t take your chances. I’m a winner. I want to win and if you see things going wrong, it’s frustrating. I had a big chance with my left foot and a header. We had so many opportunities to win.”
INTER MILAN (4-3-3): Handanovic; Nagatomo (D’Ambrosio 90), Miranda, Murillo, Santon; Gnoukouri, Medel, Brozovic; Candreva (Ansaldi 81), Icardi, Eder (Perisic 86). Booked: Brozovic, Medel. Sent off: Brozovic 78. Goal: Candreva 67.
SOUTHAMPTON (4-1-2-1-2): Forster; Martina, Yoshida, Van Dijk, McQueen; Romeu; Hojbjerg, Ward-Prowse; Tadic (Boufal 73); Long (Austin 48), Rodriguez (Davis 78). Booked: Hojbjerg. NEXT UP: Man City (a), Sun PL.
Referee: G Mazeika (Lith).