Stuart Armstrong’s sublime free-kick handed Southampton back-to-back Sky Bet Championship wins with a hard fought 1-0 victory at Stoke.
The midfielder’s right-footed effort just before half-time proved the difference at the bet365 Stadium as Russell Martin’s side built on their weekend win over Leeds, while the Potters slipped to their fifth loss in seven Championship games.
Stoke’s Ben Pearson unleashed the evening’s first effort but did not trouble Gavin Bazunu, before Sead Haksabanovic sliced wide as the hosts began brightly.
Kamaldeen Sulemana’s dangerous 18th-minute cross after getting past Ki-Jana Hoever from the left flank could not find a Saints player to finish.
Haksabanovic’s clever flick played in youngster Nathan Lowe – making his first Stoke start after netting Saturday’s winner against Bristol City – but Kyle Walker-Peters arrived to make a crucial challenge.
Southampton responded with a flowing counter-attack but Sulemana should have done better with it as he blasted into the stands.
Mehdi Leris robbed Ryan Manning and his teasing 24th-minute cross was met by Lowe, who headed into the ground before Bazunu claimed, while Adam Armstrong dragged wide at the other end not long after.
Stoke’s Lowe crossed from the left with 10 minutes of the first half remaining but his delivery was behind Leris, who would have had a simple finish.
The visitors broke the deadlock four minutes before the break as Stuart Armstrong’s sublime 25 yard free-kick flew past Mark Travers.
Junior Tchamadeu cut in from the right and unleashed a low effort which sailed just off target as the hosts sought a quick equaliser.
Adam Armstrong’s pinpoint cross found the goalscorer after the break but Burnley loanee Luke McNally’s vital block denied the midfielder’s header.
Sulemana forced Travers into action with a low 55th-minute block with his leg after the winger glided into the box, as Carlos Alcaraz headed the resulting corner into the goalkeeper’s arms.
At the other end, Daniel Johnson forced a save from Bazunu as the hosts’ penalty calls after Lowe went down under Jan Bednarek’s challenge went unanswered.
Leris’ teasing cross with 15 minutes to go was met by Stoke substitute Wesley but he could not find the target as the hosts sought an equaliser.
Sekou Mara could have doubled Southampton’s advantage after being picked out by fellow substitute Joe Aribo but slammed an 83rd-minute effort wide.
Will Smallbone nodded over Manning’s corner as full-time approached, before Stoke substitute Wouter Burger forced Bazunu to parry away a fierce injury-time effort at the other end.
Southampton successfully navigated 10 minutes added time after a lengthy stoppage due to injury for Stoke’s Ben Wilmot as Martin’s side emerged victorious.
Indonesia 0-4 Japan: Visitors stay unbeaten with rout
Japan continued their unbeaten start to World Cup qualifying with a 4-0 victory over Indonesia on Friday.
Two goals from the visitors in either half were enough to seal the three points and get them back to winning ways after a stalemate with Australia last time out.
Ragnar Oratmangoen should have put Indonesia ahead, but he hesitated one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and Japan did not look back after that. They got a bit of fortune with their first goal, Justin Hubner deflecting a cross into his own net in the 35th minute.
Takumi Minamino got their second just before the break, finishing off a pacy counter-attack by darting onto the end of Kaoru Mitoma’s cross to sweep it past Maarten Paes.
While there was not much the goalkeeper could do with that one, he was at fault for the third as he gifted the ball to Hidemasa Morita, who coolly picked out the bottom corner just after the break.
Yukinari Sugawara came off the bench to round off the scoring in the 69th minute. He raced down the right wing and instead of looking to his options, he rifled it in from a tight angle at the near post.
Japan are up to 13 points after five games, sitting top of Group C, while Indonesia are bottom, still in search of their first win.
Data Debrief: Clinically done
For a team still chasing their first win, Japan are probably not high on the list of opponents they would want to face, and Indonesia were undone by their visitors.
Hajime Moriyasu's side created 0.79 expected goals (xG) to Indonesia's 0.72, while they only had four more shots than their hosts (12 compared to eight).
Japan took their chances, and though the win margin may look harsh, they were deserving of the three points, having dominated throughout the game.
Jamaica 0-1 United States: Pepi give visitors advantage in Nations League quarter-final
Ricardo Pepi's first-half strike gave the United States a 1-0 advantage over Jamaica after the first leg of their Concacaf Nations League quarter-final.
The hosts saw a penalty saved in the first half before their frustrations were compounded late on thanks to Mason Holgate's red card.
The USA had the lead just five minutes in – having smothered a Jamaica attack at one end, the visitors caught them out with a pacy counter-attack, with Pepi sweeping it into the back of the net.
Shortly after, Shamar Nicholson was brought down by Matt Turner when he tried to take it around him, but the goalkeeper made amends, diving low to his right to deny Demarai Gray from 12 yards.
In the second half, Holgate was denied a tap-in by Yunus Musah before Turner scrambled to stop Leon Bailey's corner from nestling into the net as Jamaica searched for an equaliser.
With 86 minutes on the clock, Holgate received a second yellow card in just over 10 minutes for dragging Brandon Vazquez back, meaning he will miss the return leg in Missouri on Monday.
Data Debrief: Hitting the mark
Pepi got the all-important goal on Thursday, and is the fourth player to score 12 goals for the USA before turning 22 years old, joining Landon Donovan, Jozy Altidore and Christian Pulisic.
But it was perhaps Turner who actually had the most vital interventions; he has now saved three of the eight penalties he's faced for the USA, including two against Jamaica.
Mauricio Pochettino also could not have asked for a better result from his first competitive game in charge of the Stars and Stripes as he became just the third full-time manager to win his first competitive away match, joining Bob Bradley (2008) and Steve Sampson (1996).
Real Madrid hit Twente for seven, five-star Wolfsburg also win big
Real Madrid had six different goalscorers as they trounced Twente 7-0 in the Women's Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg beat Galatasaray 5-0.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring three minutes into the Group B encounter at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, then Maria Mendez's header gave Madrid a 2-0 half-time lead.
Madrid, who had won one and lost one of their opening two games in the tournament, got a third through Naomie Feller five minutes into the second half, then Caroline Weir made it 4-0 with a brilliant free-kick.
Mendez headed home her second of the encounter shortly after the hour mark, while Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho got on the scoresheet late on to complete the rout.
The victory took Madrid second in the Group B standings ahead of Chelsea's trip to Celtic.
Wolfsburg were also convincing victors in Group A, getting off the mark for this season's competition as Rebecka Blomqvist scored a hat-trick in their 5-0 thrashing of Galatasaray.
The Bundesliga side – who failed to pick up a point or score a goal in their opening two matches – had a narrow 1-0 lead at half-time through Joelle Wedemeyer, before Blomqvist took centre-stage in the second period.
She tapped home after Janina Minge struck the crossbar, then added her second goal in the 77th minute and her third six minutes into stoppage time.
Vivien Endemann powered home a fifth for Wolfsburg one minute later, as they provisionally moved within three points of Lyon and Roma ahead of their meeting.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
