EFL

Adam Armstrong on the spot as Southampton draw eight-goal thriller with Norwich

By Sports Desk August 12, 2023

Adam Armstrong’s 97th-minute penalty saved Russell Martin’s St Mary’s curtain-raiser as Southampton drew a topsy-turvy 4-4 clash with Norwich.

Josh Sargent gave the Canaries an early lead before Saints hit back to claim the lead through Jan Bednarek and Armstrong’s first spot-kick.

But Norwich returned their advantage by half-time thanks to Gabriel Sara’s thunderbolt and Jon Rowe’s header.

Che Adams got Saints back level before Christian Fassnacht thought he had won it six minutes from time with his first Norwich goal, only for Armstrong’s last-gasp penalty.

Former Norwich player Martin was taking charge of Southampton at St Mary’s for the first time and aiming to become the first Saints manager since Glenn Hoddle in 2000 to win their first two league matches.

After an early sighter from Rowe, Sargent gave Martin a rude awakening to life on the south coast as the Canaries striker finished off a swift attack in the seventh minute.

Ashley Barnes had brilliantly held up the ball before releasing Jack Stacey to stand up a cross at the back post for Sargent to open his account for the season.

What came next was a frantic 344 seconds which saw the game see-saw with three goals.

It started with a recycled corner whipped back into the box by Kyle Walker-Peters, new club captain Jack Stephens’ header was saved but centre back Bednarek was on hand to smash in his first goal since April 2022 with the rebound.

Three minutes later, in the 20th minute, Will Smallbone’s cross was handled by Shane Duffy. Armstrong stepped up and converted for his second goal of the season.

But the Canaries went straight back up the other end, where Brazilian Sara controlled the ball around Smallbone before rifling into the top corner with his left foot.

Shane Duffy hit the side netting, Armstrong had a header cleared off the line and Stephens bravely blocked from Kenny McLean to continue the exhilarating first half.

Rowe managed to find a free header from a Sara corner in stoppage time to loop Norwich back into the lead.

There was little let up in the second half as Adams came off the bench for a second week in a row to find the back of the net.

The former Birmingham attacker thumped a low shot across the face of goal and into the bottom corner.

Both sides had good chances to win the game but for heroic defending and keeping. Carlos Alcaraz had one shot saved and another grazed the crossbar.

Norwich sub Fassnacht was crowded out on the counter, before Angus Gunn produced a stunning save to keep out Armstrong’s acrobatic effort.

But the Canaries took the lead for a third time with six minutes to go as Ryan Manning made a hash of clearing Dimitris Giannoulis’ cross to give Fassnacht a simple finish.

But Giannoulis’ nudge on Walker-Peters gave Armstrong his second penalty of the game. Alcaraz even had time to curl a 98th-minute effort just wide to conclude a thrilling fixture.

Related items

  • Emery has no complaints after tired Aston Villa lose late on at Brighton Emery has no complaints after tired Aston Villa lose late on at Brighton

    Unai Emery accepts Aston Villa can have no complaints over their 1-0 loss to Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League.

    The Villans fell to a narrow defeat at the Amex Stadium on Sunday as Joao Pedro converted late on after his initial penalty attempt was saved.

    Villa looked sluggish throughout yet were just minutes away from claiming a point that would have further boosted their top-four prospects.

    John McGinn also had a goal ruled out for a marginal offside, but Emery admits his side were not deserving of a point on their travels.

    "We competed but it was not enough," he told BBC Sport. "We weren't strong enough in 90 minutes to deserve anything more than we achieved.

    "Now the most important thing is to rest, to rest today, rest tomorrow, after the match.

    "We are having an amazing season, brilliant, but of course we are at the last chance and we have to try and give everything."

    Villa remain seven points clear of fifth-place Tottenham, albeit having played a game more, after Spurs' 4-2 loss at Liverpool.

    Before focus can turn to the Villans' home match with Liverpool in a week's time, they first travel to Olympiacos for their Europa Conference League semi-final second leg.

    Emery's men have a major task on their hands if they are to reach the final as they trail 4-2 from last week's first leg at Villa Park.

    "We want to put in a good effort on Thursday [against Olympiakos] and on Monday against Liverpool. Now is time to rest," Emery added.

    "We had a lot of players injured and they are recovering. The most important thing is to get players back for balance and to be competitive."

    Victory for Brighton was much needed after going six without a win in the Premier League, failing to score in four of those matches.

    While Roberto De Zerbi was pleased to get back to winning ways, he accepts Brighton were given a helping hand by Villa's quick turnaround in games.

    "To be honest, Villa were not themselves, maybe a little tired," he said. "They are playing in the Europa Conference League and they have a lot of injuries.

    "I am proud because we played a great game against one of the best teams in the Premier League. Playing against Unai Emery's teams is very tough. 

    "We played well, we deserved to win and we could have scored more goals. I think Robin Olsen was the best player for Villa."

  • Declan Rice loss to blame for heavy West Ham defeats - David Moyes Declan Rice loss to blame for heavy West Ham defeats - David Moyes

    Declan Rice's absence is to blame for a number of heavy West Ham defeats this season, according to manager David Moyes.

    West Ham sold captain and influential midfielder Rice to Arsenal last July for a club-record fee rising to £105million with add-ons.

    The Hammers have seen results nosedive since the turn of the year, most recently crashing to a 5-0 defeat away at Chelsea on Sunday.

    That was the sixth time West Ham have conceded four or more goals away from home this season, and their fifth loss in six away games overall.

    Asked at his post-match press conference exactly why his side are on the end of heavy losses so frequently of late, Moyes said: "Declan Rice."

    The Scotsman, due to be out of contract next month, added: "You get the best midfield player in the country, protecting, making sure the moments and times you limit maybe 50 per cent of the attacks.

    "It makes you a much better defensive team when you get that. We've lacked protection in front of the back four; we've lacked good enough defending; we've not been good enough on those things in many games.

    "You've got to be careful. You're talking about a team sitting in a really, really strong position. We've had a couple of bad days away from home, which we have to try and eradicate and make better.

    "I'm trying to put a bit of mental toughness when we need it. The teams I normally prepare would normally have it. You could always lose the way you lose."

    West Ham have won just one of their past nine Premier League games, seeing them slip down to ninth place and now out of the top-six running.

    United have also failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their past 16 in the competition - only the second time they have done so in a single Premier League season.

    The poor run of form, which also includes elimination from the Europa League at the hands of a strong Bayer Leverkusen side, has raised doubts over Moyes' future at London Stadium.

    Amid suggestions that former Real Madrid and Spain boss Julen Lopetegui has already been lined up, Moyes reiterated he will wait until after the season to hold talks over his future.

    "I'm going to talk to the board at the end of the season, so we’ll do that then," he said.

  • Allegri admits to regrets as Juventus slump continues Allegri admits to regrets as Juventus slump continues

    Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri admitted to having regrets after the Bianconeri missed the chance to close the gap to second-placed Milan in Sunday's Serie A draw with Roma. 

    Romelu Lukaku put Roma ahead early on at the Stadio Olimpico but Bremer's header dragged Juventus level before the break, as two teams vying for a top-five finish cancelled each other out.

    Juventus have now won just two of their last 14 league games, and Allegri reacted to the final whistle on Sunday by storming off the bench and throwing his jacket to the ground in frustration.

    Speaking to DAZN after the game, Allegri said: "There are regrets, naturally we could've done better during this period, but football is vicious like that, sometimes it just doesn't go your way.

    "We risked losing a game that we were in a position to win at the start of the second half."

    Despite four consecutive Serie A draws, Juventus remain six points clear of fifth-placed Roma and nine ahead of Atalanta in sixth – though La Dea have two games in hand.

    With Italy guaranteed five Champions League qualification places for next season, they remain in a strong position to return to Europe's premier club competition, while they are also due to face Atalanta in the Coppa Italia final on May 15.

    "The important thing now is to concentrate on the next game, as that is the match point for the Champions League, then we have the Coppa Italia final," Allegri said.

    "The club will evaluate at the end of the season, naturally there are some solid foundations for Juve, but we were missing players like [Paul] Pogba, [Nicolo] Fagioli and of course [Federico] Chiesa was on and off."

    Despite Juventus enjoying a broadly positive campaign after finishing seventh in 2022-23, when they were hampered by a 10-point deduction after an investigation into their historical financial dealings, Allegri's position has been called into question lately.

    Asked about his own future, he said: "I don't know, you'd have to ask the club. 

    "The important thing is for us to focus on the Coppa Italia final and hopefully, we’ll come back here with the Champions League already achieved."

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.