Southampton 1 Hapoel Beer Sheva 1
On the night, it was not glamorous but it was a case of job done for Hapoel Be’er Sheva as the Israeli champions dumped Southampton out of the Europa League group stages. The home side were tepid throughout, eking towards a goalless draw that would have seen them through until Maor Buzaglo drilled an effort, the visitors first meaningful shot of the evening, low beyond Fraser Forster, the Southampton goalkeeper after 78 minutes.
Southampton, who have now managed just four goals in six matches, failed to navigate a way past a resolute visiting defence and in the end they paid for their profligacy.
Claude Puel, the Southampton manager, made three changes from the 3-0 defeat at Crystal Palace on Saturday, one of which was to replace the captain José Fonte with Maya Yoshida. As a result the Portuguese, who helped his country win Euro 2016 in the summer, has not featured for Southampton in the Europa League this season. Fonte, who turns 33 this month, has 18 months to run on his current contract and the club do not have plans to offer him a new one.
The defender held in high regard by Southampton supporters, though, and the Northam Stand took all of 155 seconds to sing the name of their leader. Hapoel, too, were without their captain, Elyaniv Barda. Another fans favourite, Maor Melikson, in his second spell with the Israeli champions, was also missing.
Southampton dominated large spells of the first half and started brightly. Inside two minutes Nathan Redmond’s corner was met by Charlie Austin, whose header was comfortably gathered by David Goresh, the Hapoel goalkeeper.
They raised their game 10 minutes before half-time, with Redmond testing Goresh from distance with a swerving effort before his pace left Hapoel flummoxed, as the winger put on the afterburners, running with the ball from his own half, but his cross from the byline was just a little too high for the leaping Austin.
Southampton were forced to settle for glimpses at goal and it was Hapoel’s Buzaglo who squandered perhaps the best opportunity in a fairly tame half. A deep cross by Mihaly Korhut evaded both Virgil van Dijk and Yoshida, allowing the unmarked Buzaglo to get in a shot at the back post. The Israeli side rarely threatened going forward but the Nigeria striker Anthony Nwakaeme twice jinked past Cédric Soares without delivering an end product.
Be’er Sheva are a team predominantly made up of free transfers and cut-price signings, including Ben Sahar, the former Chelsea and Portsmouth striker. Nicknamed the Camels, they are 10 points clear of Maccabi Tel Aviv at the top of their domestic league after clinching their first Israeli title for 40 years last season. Unsurprisingly then, the Hapoel manager, Barak Bakhar, at 37, is regarded as something as a prodigy by the club’s supporters after guiding the club into European competition for the first time.
Alona Barkat, an Israeli businesswoman, and the first female club owner in the country, has helped transformed them after Hapoel were almost relegated from the top tier just three years ago. The club’s very presence on the European circuit was proudly represented by more than 1000 travelling fans who made the 3,700km trip from the city of Beersheba to St Mary’s.
Southampton grew increasingly frustrated, first when Van Dijk was denied inside the box by John Ogu before Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, the former Bayern Munich midfielder, blasted harmlessly over. Shane Long, who replaced Austin six minutes before the interval when he sustained a worrying shoulder injury, was next to puff out his cheeks, after failing to guide a fine low cross by Ryan Bertrand goalwards.
Puel then introduced Dusan Tadic, the Serbia midfielder, making his first appearance since breaking his nose on international duty last month. Tadic, wearing a face mask, replaced Josh Sims, the 19-year-old academy graduate making his Europa League bow.
Southampton were within touching distance of the prize of reaching the last 32 of the competition. Van Dijk headed wide once more and as the game crept towards full-time, Oriol Romeu was urged to shoot at goal even with only a mere glimpse of Goresh’s goal in an attempt to put the home supporters out of their misery.
After going behind to Buzaglo’s strike, Southampton displayed the urgency required from the off, with Van Dijk poking home a 90th-minute equaliser. The giant Dutchman would charge forward during injury-time in search of a winner, with a score draw inadequate to see them through. Yoshida, then, climbed highest to head millimetres wide with seconds remaining.
Southampton were left to rue their chances and what might have been, with the Uefa hoardings, red and white flags and thoughts of breaking new ground now rather redundant. As for Be’er Sheva, they are through to the knockout stages of a European competition for the first time in their history, with Bakhar’s hero status exploding somewhat.
(Guardian service)
