1 Goal, 1 Assist: Lambert’s menacing display encapsulates Southampton's sensational start

Southampton 2-0 Fulham

Southampton cruised to a 2-0 victory over an utterly suffocated Fulham at St Mary’s on Saturday evening to go fifth in the table. Rickie Lambert opened the Saints’ account on 20 minutes before turning provider to set up Jay Rodriguez for the hosts’ second as Mauricio Pochettino’s men dominated the contest from start to finish.

Key Stats:

Martin Jol’s team simply couldn’t contend with a Southampton side that oozed energy and desire, seeing just 40% of possession whilst managing just a pithy two attempts on goal and not a single key pass.

Southampton Key Passes v Fulham

The hosts passed their opponents to death in completing 83% of a whopping 695 attempted passes, creating an astounding 15 chances in the process, and reigned supreme in one-on-one situations offensively in succeeding with 11 of 13 take ons.

Southampton’s excellence on the ball saw the Cottagers make only 10 tackles despite being under heavy pressure in defence for much of the encounter, and had the visitors not managed to muster 34 clearances, the margin of victory could’ve been much larger.

Man of the Match:

Lambert claimed Man of the Match honours with a menacing display, heading home at the back stick to put the Saints on top midway through the first-half and setting up Rodriguez on the stroke of half time to have a hand in both of his side’s goals.

The England international could’ve had more in registering a Performance Score of 66, having taken five shots, three of which hit the target, whilst adding two more key pasess to go along with his assist for Rodriguez.

As can be seen for his Heat Map, Lambert was simply everywhere in Fulham’s half to present danger to Maarten Stekelenburg’s goal, also pressing with fervor to help win the ball back when his side rarely lost possession.

Rickie Lambert Heat Map v Fulham

Performance Score:

Southampton unsurprisingly exercised control over their rivals in terms of Performance Score throughout the 90 minutes, taking the lead from the off and never looking back.

Lambert’s 20th minute strike sent the Cottagers tumbling into negative figures never to move back above zero again, with the Performance Score chart illustrating just how comprehensive the hosts’ win was as the Saints steadily climbed and their adversaries surely slipped further into the abyss.

All told, Southampton emerged with a final figure of 440 to Fulham’s -105, Pochettino’s men having never afforded their guests a moment’s respite on the evening.

Key Observations:

Fulham didn’t record a shot until the 48th minute, when Kieran Richardson scuffed a volley from distance that weakly trickled just a few yards away from him, and lacked any sort of cutting edge going forward.

As can be seen from their Heat Map, the Cottagers barely ventured into the offensive third whatsoever as Darren Bent and Dimitar Berbatov were constantly frustrated and ended the day with negative Performance Scores.

So much of Southampton’s success came due to the side’s tireless pressing in all areas, the south coast side winning a combined six tackles and interceptions in Fulham’s half.

As well, Pochettino’s team were nearly unstoppable in the air in the penalty area to repeatedly challenge on deliveries from wide areas, both their goals coming from headers at the back post as they won five of seven total headed duels inside the Cottagers’ 18-yard box.

Southampton’s Aerial Duels v Fulham