A new Gabbiadini forges his name on Wearside
THE name of Gabbiadini has been synonymous with goals for older Sunderland fans brought up on the exploits of Marco, the striker who joined them 30 years ago and scored 87 times in the next four seasons.
Now there is a new Gabbiadini on the scene and, while Manolo is not related to Marco, Southampton’s £15m striker scored twice to show that he possesses the same instinct for goals as the Wearside legend who was in the crowd yesterday.
Marco stayed until the bitter end, but only a tiny proportion of the crowd remained by the time Southampton added two in the closing stages, Shane Long scoring after Jason Denayer’s own goal.
It was the ideal preparation for the EFL Cup final on February 26 for Saints, whose players have been given a four-day break to spend with family before warm-weather training in Spain, ahead of the date with Manchester United.
Boss Claude Puel said: ‘A win by four goals and a clean sheet is very good for our confidence. Our attitude was very good in a difficult game against difficult opponents.’
Puel is being generous. Sunderland started confidently and created chances that Adnan Januzaj and Jermain Defoe failed to take. But the feelgood factor evaporated as Gabbiadini squandered a good chance, created another that Cedric Soares fired wide and put Southampton ahead, all in the space of 10 minutes.
Gabbiadini was credited with the goal on the half-hour following a fine cross from Ryan Bertrand as Sunderland defender Lamine Kone’s header took a slight deflection off the striker’s shoulder, prompting Sunderland manager David Moyes to suggest it should have been disallowed. ‘The ball hit him on his arm,’ he said. ‘It shouldn’t have been given and really changed how the game went.’
There could be no dispute over the second in stoppage time at the end of the half and Gabbiadini’s right to claim it. He collected Dusan Tadic’s pass, embarrassed John O’Shea and Kone with his quick turn and slid the ball past Vito Mannone.
Gabbiadini has now scored in both his games for Southampton after hitting the target in his final three appearances for Napoli. ‘It’s a very good start,’ said Puel. ‘Manolo showed he is a technical player who can work between the lines. He gets behind defenders and has real quality.’
O’Shea paid the price for his part in the second goal as he was substituted at the start of a second half when Southampton’s lead was never threatened. Didier Ndong produced the only effort that seriously concerned Saints’ keeper Fraser Forster, while Sunderland’s Mannone made several saves before his defence collapsed again.
Denayer slid Bertrand’s cross into his own goal after 88 minutes and Long hit a fourth in stoppage time. When Wahbi Khazri did score for Sunderland, it was chalked off as he punched the ball past Forster.
Moyes said: ‘When the expectation is that we will win, we fluff our lines a bit. I’m really disappointed with the result and our performance, especially in the second half.’
Sunderland stay bottom but are one of six sides separated by three points. Is it back to square one? ‘At least we are still in a square because we are in it with other teams,’ Moyes said.