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Southampton’s Shane Long, centre, scores the winning goal against Norwich City.
Southampton’s Shane Long, centre, scores the winning goal against Norwich City. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA
Southampton’s Shane Long, centre, scores the winning goal against Norwich City. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA

Southampton’s late goal sinks Norwich as José Fonte edges closer to exit

This article is more than 7 years old

It was the game neither Southampton nor Norwich City wanted, and the way it was played reflected this until Shane Long scored in added time to provide Saints supporters with welcome relief and an FA Cup fourth-round tie at home against Arsenal a week on Saturday.

Both teams made eight changes and José Fonte was again missing for Southampton with the manager, Claude Puel, admitting his captain is weighing up “opportunities” to leave the club.

FA Cup fourth round draw

• Blackburn Rovers v Blackpool

• Burnley v Bristol City

• Chelsea v Brentford

• Crystal Palace v Manchester City

• Derby County v Leicester City

• Fulham v Hull City

• Lincoln City v Brighton & Hove Albion

• Liverpool v Wolves

• Manchester United v Wigan Athletic

• Middlesbrough v Accrington Stanley

• Millwall v Watford

• Southampton v Arsenal

• Oxford United v Newcastle United

• Rochdale v Huddersfield Town

• Sutton United v Leeds United

• Tottenham Hotspur v Wycombe Wanderers

Ties to be played 27-29 January

The managers had the bigger picture in mind, with the focus very much on Saturday and reviving their league campaigns. Norwich’s Alex Neil stayed true to his word after promising a much-changed side with Wolverhampton Wanderers on the horizon. His captain, Russell Martin, featured here, though, unlike Fonte.

Southampton face Leicester City on Sunday, when Puel is likely to ring the changes once more, and the Frenchman has now made a staggering 187 changes in the 32 matches he has presided over since arriving at the club last summer.

“I think he has some opportunities, he studies his opportunities and for Southampton it is the same,” Puel said of Fonte, who handed in a transfer request this month. “We will see if José leaves or no, we will see over the next few days.”

Southampton again struggled to captivate their home supporters but finished the much stronger side and eventually got their reward.

The contest was everything the crowd of less than 14,000 had feared, devoid of real rhythm and zip until the introduction of Nathan Redmond, the former Norwich winger, 20 minutes from time.

“We [have] played many games and an important game arrives on Sunday,” Puel said of the attendance. “It was cold, it was not the Premier League and I think it’s normal. Since the beginning of the season the support has been fantastic away and at home, when we played at San Siro there were 8,000 fans.”

Redmond twice went close to scoring before Long stabbed home with extra time looming after his header from Sam McQueen’s cross was kept out by Michael McGovern, the Norwich goalkeeper.

The home side came into the fixture on the back of four straight Premier League defeats and a draw in the first instalment of this tie at Carrow Road. It has been a case of one step forward, two steps back for Southampton for most of this campaign but especially of late. After victory over Liverpool in the EFL Cup last Wednesday Southampton returned to square one with defeat at Burnley three days later.

Norwich were searching for some light at the end of the tunnel too after nine defeats in 13 matches has left their fading play-off hopes in real jeopardy.

Josh Sims, the 19-year-old thrust into the spotlight by Puel in November, came closest to lifting the mood around St Mary’s but failed to fully connect with McQueen’s cross.

Neil admitted Norwich came with a game plan to “sit behind the ball” and frustrate, leaving Kyle Lafferty isolated in attack.

“To be honest I don’t think I could have asked any more of them,” Neil said. “We would have liked to have offered a little more going forward, but to lose it in the manner we did at the end – I felt gutted.”

A spell of second-half pressure led to the ball landing at the feet of Cuco Martina, the Curaçao international, who was overawed by the home supporters’ cries to shoot and miscued his cross for Rodriguez. In fairness, Martina does not do tap-ins and his only Southampton goal was a 35-yard screamer at St Mary’s against Arsenal.

Sims, formerly of Portsmouth’s academy, then surged into the opposition box, with Sébastien Bassong for company pulling at his shirt, before his cross-cum-shot was cleared by Ivo Pinto. Puel summoned Redmond in an attempt to get his team over the line and avoid another half an hour of football before four matches in 13 days.

Neil, too, looked to his substitutes bench for inspiration, with Jacob Murphy replacing his twin brother, Josh. The latter’s final involvement was a mean cross from the right flank which had Southampton panicked, but Lafferty’s long legs could not meet it.

After 73 minutes the Southampton supporters thought they had been put out of their misery before realising James Ward-Prowse’s free-kick had hit only the side-netting. But when James Linington, the fourth official, signalled three minutes of added time Southampton dug deep to find a goal. Sparked into life by Redmond, they never gave up and when McQueen crossed, Long was on hand to turn home an unlikely winner at the last.

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