Southampton 1 Norwich City 0: Shane Long pops up with 92nd-minute goal to prove stay-away fans were right to swerve dull FA Cup third-round replay
Only 13,517 fans made it to St Mary's and they almost had to sit through 90 minutes plus added time before the faint hope of some exciting penalties was dashed by Long's strike
THANK heavens for Shane Long.
The Ireland striker bundled home a scrappy stoppage-time winner which was fitting for one of the worst games you could wish to see.
Long’s initial header was saved by Norwich keeper Michael McGovern — yet mercifully he followed up to score and end the agony for everyone except the noisy travelling fans.
Keep up-to-date with all the latest transfer news and gossip ahead of the January window with SunSport’s daily LIVE blog.
This was not only a good advert for ending FA Cup replays, but also a compelling argument to put the whole competition out of its misery.
The crowd of 13,517 was still depressingly low, though, even for a freezing January night and a prospect as grim as this: An extra game neither side wanted in a cup neither had taken seriously in the first place.
Claude Puel made eight changes to the Southampton side which lost 1-0 at Burnley, but has a 1-0 EFL Cup semi-final lead to defend against Liverpool in a week’s time.
As for Norwich boss Alex Neil, where could you go after losing to Rotherham?
Was it possible to weaken a team which had been beaten by a side well adrift at the bottom of the Championship?
Neil, ever the FA Cup romantic, did his best with eight alterations of his own for this third-round replay.
At least there was a measure of defiance in picking genuine first-teamer Robbie Brady and so making the alleged target of a number of Premier League clubs cup-tied.
Related Stories
Having said that, most top-flight sides are treating the oldest cup competition in the world with such disrespect that not being able to select Brady to play in it would hardly be a consideration.
A bonus, if anything.
And for curiosity value alone, it was nice to be given a sighting of the lesser-spotted Kyle Lafferty — the one-time playboy of Palermo.
If the FA Cup could speak, it would doubtless say how honoured it felt to be graced by the Northern Ireland international’s second start for Norwich — and his sixth for any club — in the last two seasons.
With expectations suitably low, any moments of excitement would need to be cherished.
Josh Murphy ran in behind the home defence in the eighth minute only to see his ball across the six-yard box met by precisely no one in green and yellow.
Moments later, Saints left-back Sam McQueen sent in a cross which looked enticing until you saw it was headed in the direction of Josh Sims . . . who stands at just 5ft 7in tall.
In the 25th minute, an actual shot occurred, though Sims’ effort was easily dealt with by McGovern.
And the Norwich goalkeeper made a similarly straightforward save from Jay Rodriguez.
Some welcome slapstick came in the form of visiting skipper Ryan Bennett somehow avoiding punishment for a foul on Rodriguez, then an atrocious first half mercifully ended.
The only problem, of course — extra-time was 45 minutes closer, too.
Sims always seemed the man most likely to spare everyone that torture and, ten minutes after the break, he shrugged off Sebastien Bassong’s attempts to hug him — only for Ivo Pinto to divert the cross-cum-shot behind rather than into his own net.
Hitman Long also went close, cutting in from the left and hitting a right-footed shot which went just wide of McGovern’s far post.
Then Rodriguez almost converted a Cuco Martina cross from a narrow angle.
Norwich’s only real chance of the night came from a clever Josh Murphy cross, which Lafferty failed to connect with.
Saints fans cheered in relief as much as joy when they thought James Ward-Prowse had curled home a 73rd-minute free-kick, but it had found the side, rather than the back, of the net.
Former Canary Nathan Redmond, on as a sub, had three chances to break the deadlock, yet saw one shot saved, the next blocked and the last fly wastefully wide.
Just when fans were digging for a new layer of clothing, up popped Long to warm the cockles.
McQueen’s initial cross was excellent and Long prevented a long night from becoming even longer by scoring at the second attempt.
The fourth-round clash with Arsenal will surely be a bigger and better occasion.
What they said:
Norwich boss Alex Neil said: "I thought we applied ourselves well. I can't fault the boys for the effort but unfortunately we lost it in the last minute."
Saints boss Claude Puel said: "It's an important result. It was important to win this game. It was a difficult game.
"Our first half did not have a good enough rhythm, and it was important in the second half to control the game and the ball.
"Of course, we should have scored before we did, but we prevented extra-time and this is important for the recovery of the players.
"All the players kept a good attitude, with good concentration. We gave no chances to the opponent during the whole 90 minutes, and in the second half we had many opportunities.
"We were perhaps unlucky, or not clinical enough, but the most important thing was to qualify and now we have an important game against Arsenal in this competition."
Dream Team ratings
Southampton: Lewis 6: Martina 6, Yoshida 6, Stephens 6, McQueen 6; Ward-Prowse 6, Clasie 6, Reed 6, Sims 6; Long 7, Rodriguez 5
Subs: Redmond 6, Romeu 6
Norwich: McGovern 6; Pinto 6, Bennett 5, Klose 5, Bassong 5, Martin 6; Murphy 6, Godfrey 6, Brady 6, Pritchard 6; Lafferty 5
Subs: Murphy 6, Grant 6, Canos 6