Southampton: Romeu stole the show v SUFC | OneFootball

Southampton progressed through to the fourth round of the League Cup on Tuesday night as they beat Sheffield United on penalties.

The Saints and the Blades held each other to a 2-2 draw in regulation time, with Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side then coming out on top 4-2 from the spot-kicks.

Hasenhuttl has now led his team to six games unbeaten in all competitions and there were a number of impressive performers for the Saints against Slavisa Jokanovic’s team, but one player, in particular, who stole the show was central midfielder Oriol Romeu.

Was Romeu man of the match?

Yes

Vote

No

Vote

Whilst many fans may look at the two goalscorers, Ibrahima Diallo and Mo Salisu, or goalkeeper Fraser Forster, who saved two penalties, when handing out praise, Romeu deserves a lot of credit as he was outstanding in midfield throughout the game.

Defensively, he was almost faultless for the Saints. Per SofaScore, he won seven of his 11 ground duels and made five tackles, along with one clearance. This shows that he was able to come out on top in his personal battles against United players, highlighting his strength in the middle of the park and his ability to win possession back for his side.

Romeu did not allow United players to get the better of him, which then allowed Southampton to dictate the flow of the game. He snuffed out attacks before they started and kept his team on the front foot.

1 of 10

Can you beat this impossible Saints quiz?! Starting off easy...

Maya Yoshida

Jack Stephens

Wesley Hoedt

Kevin Danso

Offensively, Romeu also stood out. He delivered a brilliant cross for Diallo’s goal and, per SofaScore, he provided two key passes overall, whilst also scoring in the penalty shoot-out.

The Spaniard completed eight of his 10 attempted long passes and had a 100% success rate with crosses and dribbles. He was able to showcase his quality on the ball to progress Southampton up the pitch, stepping up in big moments with the assist and the penalty goal too.

Hasenhuttl will surely have been left buzzing with the ex-Chelsea man’s performance as it showed that he can merge the defensive side of his game with attacking thrust.

Hopefully, he will be able to carry that form over to the Premier League and maintain his place in the starting XI, as it could help push the Saints further up the table.

AND in other news, Possession lost x14: Saints disaster with zero tackles let Ralph down badly…