Southampton sweep aside Vitesse Arnhem, thanks to goals from Graziano Pelle, Dusan Tadic and Shane Long. Enner Valencia and Mauro Zarate net for the Hammers but a lack of discipline costs Slaven Bilic’s side dearly, whilst Patrick Bamford hits a 20-minute hat-trick as Palace put six past Bromley Town.
Southampton 3 Vitesse Arnhem 0
The Saints impressed at both ends of the pitch as Ronald Koeman’s side edged towards the Europa League group stages with a comprehensive win at St Mary’s. Graziano Pelle, Dusan Tadic (penalty) and substitute Shane Long all found the net, with Sadio Mane supplying a pair of assists before new boy Juanmi teed up Long for the third.
Koeman named Maarten Stekelenburg in goal, with a back-four comprised of Cedric Soares, Maya Yoshida, José Fonte and Matt Targett. Jordy Clasie and Victor Wanyama sat in the double-pivot, whilst Steven Davis, Mane and Tadic Dušan tucked in behind lone striker Pelle. New boy Soares caught the eye with a number of raiding runs down the right, whilst Yoshida was unlucky not to find the net after missing a handful of opportunities.
After the match, Koeman highlighted his key performers:
“Jordy had a good understanding with Victor, who I thought was one of the best players on the pitch in my opinion. Cedric had good movements in the first half. He was dangerous in the attacking position. Maarten made a good save at 2-0 and you always like to have the goalkeeper in that kind of important moment saving the team. Mane was outstanding. He is fast and he had good movements in attack. He’s very difficult to defend in a good way against. He played well.”
The Saints boss conceded that Clasie is a doubt for the season opener at Newcastle after the midfielder was forced off just after the hour mark with a hamstring problem. Given that the return leg against Vitesse is just three days before their trip to St James’ Park, last night’s result may well persuade Koeman to rest some of his key players to avoid further injury headaches.
West Ham 2 AFC Astra Giurgiu 2
Goals from Enner Valencia and Mauro Zarate had placed Slaven Bilic’s side in the driving seat before the dismissal of James Collins allowed the visitors to claw back a two-goal deficit.
In terms of team selection, Bilic lined his side up in a 4-3-1-2 set-up, according to the club’s twitter feed. Adrian got the nod in goal, with O’Brien, Collins, Angelo Ogbonna and Aaron Cresswell in the back-four. Mark Noble, Reece Oxford and Cheikhou Kouyate patrolled the central midfield, with Dimitri Payet (who grabbed the assist for Valencia’s opener) handed the role in “the hole” behind the Ecuadorian and Zarate.
Bilic was unable to call upon suspended pair James Tomkins and Diafra Sakho for this one and will now need to make do without Collins and Joey O’Brien for the return leg next Thursday. The latter earned his third yellow of the tournament before being replaced due to injury, whilst Valencia was also forced off, adding to his manager’s woes.
Post-match, Bilic admitted he was somewhat concerned by Valencia’s injury after the forward – playing his first match since the Copa America – was stretchered off:
“I am worried to be fair. And this is the reason I am unhappy tonight. I am not happy with the result of course but this is not as important as the injury. It looks serious but we won’t know for sure until he has a scan.”
In spite of the draw, though, the Hammers boss confirmed that most of his starters for the Gameweek 1 trip to Arsenal will not take part in next Thursday’s return leg:
“It was the same plan, no matter what the result is, that the majority of the players who will start against Arsenal will not participate in that game. We would like to do both, but the Premier League was and is the priority for us.”
The Croatian faces a real defensive dilemma for the return leg next week, then. With Collins, Tomkins and O’Brien all suspended, he could turn to Reece Burke in light of his above comments. Carl Jenkinson is likely to play in O’Brien’s absence, though the former cannot feature against his parent club at the Emirates. With O’Brien a doubt for the Arsenal clash, the Hammers could be severely hampered at right-back for the opening day of the season, having also allowed Guy Demel to leave over the summer. Given that Alexis Sanchez is unlikely to feature for the hosts, Arsene Wenger may well choose to unleash Theo Walcott down the Arsenal left to take advantage.
Bromley Town 0 Crystal Palace 6
Patrick Bamford was the star of the show as the Eagles ran riot at Bromley Arena. The on-loan Chelsea striker grabbed a first-half hat-trick before being replaced at the break, whilst Sullay Kaikai, Dwight Gayle and Wilfried Zaha also added their names to the score sheet.
Alan Pardew mainly called upon players who had failed to earn much pitch time in the club’s recent tour of South Africa. Alex McCarthy got the nod in goal, with a back-four of Martin Kelly, Brede Hangeland, Luke Croll and Christian Scales. Zaha, Jordon Mutch, Joe Ledley and Kaikai made up the midfield, allowing Gayle and Bamford to take their places up front. The Eagles boss made seven changes over the course of the second period, though Yannick Bolasie has yet to feature in recent matches due to an ongoing hamstring problem.
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