Rookie Lewis in line for call as Hasenhuttl fumes at Mccarthy
Southampton 1-1
Harry Lewis faces being thrown in for the first time since January 2017 to remedy Southampton’s goalkeeping crisis – against the club who previously hit five past him.
Third-choice Lewis, 23, last played for Southampton’s first team as a teenager when they lost an FA Cup tie 5-0 against Arsenal, who they face next in the Premier League, away on Saturday.
He is in line to step in for Alex Mccarthy after the regular No1 enraged Ralph Hasenhuttl, the club’s manager, by staying on the field and conceding while injured in Saturday’s draw against Brighton.
Another option for Southampton is an emergency loan deal.
Lewis, a substitute against Brighton, was not brought on, despite Mccarthy carrying a hamin string injury late on and not informing the bench of its severity.
Hasenhuttl will have a look at how Fraser Forster, the secondchoice goalkeeper, is recovering from an injury sustained in training on Thursday. Forster’s muscle problem was described as a “little injury” by Hasenhuttl on Friday – and a swift recovery would ease the club’s problems. It is feared that Mccarthy could be out “maybe for a long time”.
Lewis has played three first-team games, all in the FA Cup in 2017, and went on loan to Dundee United the following season.
Hasenhuttl was livid after Mccarthy allowed Neal Maupay to strike an equaliser beyond him in the eighth minute of added time, after Southampton failed to clear a free-kick.
James Ward-prowse had attempted to cover a post to the left of Mccarthy for the free-kick, but ended up playing Maupay onside for the equaliser. When the Brighton striker smashed the ball beyond him, Mccarthy did not dive, hardly moving on his goal-line.
Hasenhuttl, discussing Mccarthy, said: “If he doesn’t say anything, I cannot change him. If he can play, he must go for this ball. We had one more change in hand – and we still kept the change in hand in such a moment.”
Mccarthy had generally performed well before the last-gasp concession, making an important save low with his right leg to deny Maupay.
Brighton have made a habit of scoring late goals – this was the fourth time away in the Premier League this season that they had secured a result by scoring in the closing minutes.
Armando Broja, Southampton’s goalscorer, summed up the deflation in his team’s camp after the setback. The forward, on loan from Chelsea, said: “It’s a big blow to concede a goal like that. It’s obviously not the best thing for us, but overall our performance was really good.”