West Brom 0 Southampton 0 - Lewis Cox & Jonny Drury analysis - video Dailymotion

Express & Star

Albion took the game to the Saints and were denied a first half opener through Grady Diangana. Both Diangana and Furlong went close in the second half as Albion pushed for a winner but it never came. The sides will now do it all against at St Mary's on Friday evening.

Transcript

00:00Hello, Baggies fans. Welcome to ExpressAndStart.com. My name is Jonny Drury, and I'm here at the

00:14Hawthorns alongside Albion correspondent Lewis Cox after Albion's first championship first

00:19leg playoff semifinal millennial draw with Southampton. Chances for both sides, arguably

00:24more chances for Albion Coxy. I've asked the same questions to the Albion fans. Good result,

00:31but should they be taking the lead to the south coast?

00:33Well, it's a good result being in the tie, I think. Yes, we wanted at least a draw today

00:40and that's what Albion have. And yes, we all know it was advantage Southampton over these

00:44two legs anyway, but it's extra advantage Southampton now being at home, but it's half

00:48time and it's level, isn't it? Yes, you've got to go down there and face an away crowd,

00:54you know, obviously only a couple of thousand of Albion fans. We all know what the occasion

00:58and atmosphere was like today. But let's remember that Albion nearly and should have scored

01:04a goal down there, almost dominated Southampton in the second half down there. So look, you

01:10know, let's not get too carried away maybe with having to go down there at nil-nil. Yeah,

01:17it was for a nil-nil. I thought it was a really quite good, I thought it was a good game.

01:22I thought it was a really interesting game, intriguing game. I thought it was a game of

01:25good standard. Not too many chances, but a good couple, two, three on either side that

01:32were quite clear. I think if the volume of chances was probably even, I think Albion's

01:39the calibre of the chances, Albion had the clearer ones in my opinion. So I think there's

01:43a little bit of what if, a little bit of, to answer your question, yes, probably could

01:48have taken a lead down there. And there was, for me, the Grady de Angana second-half opportunity

01:53when he's sort of free in the box, 12 yards out from the fellows. Cutback is the one.

02:00But that one, he didn't keep his composure, did he, de Angana, in that moment when he

02:05could have done with it. But look, he was excellent again, as were many, if not all

02:08of that start in XI. So a really good performance, a really good occasion. I thought the standard

02:14and the quality was high throughout when Albion more than matched a Southampton team

02:19littered with Premier League players, international players, the kind of parachute money obviously

02:25they're able to spend, players they've had coming down, players they loaned in January

02:29that they bought on and subbed in the second half. And Albion more than matched them and

02:33arguably, and I'd say just shaded being the better team.

02:38In terms of the chances, you say that, I think it's safe to say Albion did have more than

02:42Southampton. You know, Southampton coming here, signed a free scoring, you know, popped

02:46Albion off the park back in, whenever they came early this year, February. Carlos Corberham

02:51must be delighted with the fact that, aside from the first half where they've let Flynn

02:56Downs run through and the second half with a deflected effort from Ross Stewart, Southampton

03:00created nothing apart from that. And that must be hugely, you know, satisfying from

03:05Corberham's point of view.

03:06Yeah, I think today's probably done a lot for belief and confidence. Yeah, certainly

03:12in the stands, I would say, but perhaps even amongst the players now, they're a confident

03:16group, Albion. They've backed themselves against this Southampton side, regardless of the league

03:21table, how the two games have gone. But today, I'd say they've given as good as they've got.

03:26They've given more in terms of, we were on about the calibre of the chances, Albion have

03:30given more to that. And that's why there's that little tinge of, oh, probably should

03:34have taken a goal there. But there's nothing to say, Albion can't go and perform. We know

03:39they've typically been stronger at home than on their travels. But like I say, the previous

03:43of performing well down there, played Leicester off the park, the champions, a few weeks ago,

03:46didn't they? So I know they lost both of those away games, admittedly, yes. But put the level

03:52of performance in again and give yourself a chance. It's going to be a huge occasion,

03:55isn't it? Always had to go their second leg, which is always a disadvantage. But I feel

04:01really buoyed by how Albion played, to be honest. And I've just spoken with Carlos Corberham

04:04there and he didn't say it, but I got the feeling he was really proud of that today.

04:10And why wouldn't he? I think Albion gave everything and they're still banging this and banging

04:16Chancellor Wembley.

04:17Do you think some of them would have been a bit surprised by how Albion took the game

04:21to them today? They didn't let Sam to come on to them, which we kind of expect that Albion

04:25would soak up a lot of pressure, you know, hit Sam on the break. Yes, they did hit Sam

04:30on the break at times, but Albion very much took the game to them. And I think you told

04:34me a stat after the game that I think the visitors had 63% possession. But when you

04:39looked at it to the eye, it didn't feel that way.

04:41No, absolutely. And look, the possession thing, they dominate the ball all the time, don't

04:46they? They didn't in the St Mary's game, I think it was against Albion, but generally

04:51I think they're in something stupid like top five of all European major leagues for dominating

04:56the ball or something. So that's their game. So that's fine. But first 15-20, Carlos has

05:02just said it there, everyone could see it. It was not one-way traffic, but Albion were

05:05in total control. I wrote that Southampton looked shell-shocked, really, from the start.

05:09And I think that was drummed up by the atmosphere and the occasion, to be honest. I don't think

05:14they were able to settle. However, I think they were always going to settle because of

05:18how good they are. Down the right, Walker-Peters, he was right wing back today, wasn't he? Probably

05:22the best right back in the league. I think that's fair to say. Smallbone was running,

05:26wasn't he? Adam Armstrong was down there as well. They were getting at times. Johnson,

05:31Mikey Johnson's never going to sort of bust along to get back and protect his full-back,

05:35is he? And he was excellent as well. So they're always going to have threats at Southampton

05:40and they did. It's just not as much as Albion, to be honest. But look, I think Carlos said

05:44to me, maybe it was a 1-1 game and maybe it was a 2-2 game. And would we be having different

05:49conversations then? I'm not sure. They're an excellent clean sheet, I have to say. Excellent

05:53clean sheet. And I'm really pleased with Albion putting in a good performance. And all I've

05:57seen from the stands away, everyone to a man or woman or child, clapped the home players

06:04off. Everything I've seen online is proud of that performance. And I think that's right.

06:10Anybody that thinks Albion are going to have 70% possession here against Southampton, it's

06:15just never going to happen. But I'm buoyed. I'm optimistic for Friday. So, you know, yeah,

06:22I think it was a good day. As good as it could be without winning today, maybe.

06:26There we go. The first leg leaves it hanging in the balance, finally poised,

06:32heading into St Mary's. The final score here at the Hawthorn, Albion 0 Southampton 0. All the

06:37rest of you are out. Do you know where to go? Expressingstar.com.

West Brom 0 Southampton 0 - Lewis Cox & Jonny Drury analysis

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