Southampton 0 West Brom 0
Southampton and West Brom played out a goalless draw as Ronald Koeman’s first home game in charge of Saints failed to usher in an exciting new era. Both sides resisted the urge to bring in their big-money summer strikers as Shane Long and Brown Ideye were left warming the Southampton and West Brom benches respectively.
The duo came on, but could not make telling contributions, with Baggies boss Alan Irvine no doubt the happier of the two managers to settle for a share of the spoils.
In such a tight game the lingering question was all too obvious. Could Adam Lallana or Rickie Lambert, both sold to Liverpool over the summer, have unlocked a West Brom defence that was more sturdy than the one which conceded twice to Sunderland last weekend?
Koeman brought in Graziano Pelle and Dusan Tadic to cushion the blow of losing his England international duo but, despite signs of sharpness from the latter, neither could take on the mantle of Southampton’s match-winner.
The game proved to be a missed opportunity for the new manager and his own recruits to show Saints fans they are moving on from a summer of upheaval.
