Ormerod puts Schmeichel's effort to waste

Two goals by Brett Ormerod settled Southampton's victory at the St Mary's stadium yesterday.

It was as simple and straightforward as that. City capitulated and, but for a series of defiant saves by Peter Schmeichel, the outcome would have been a rout to compound the humiliation that brought fierce criticism of his team by Kevin Keegan.

"It just wasn't good enough – no one but Peter Schmeichel came out with credit," he fumed. "We could have lost by four or five. They had everything we didn't have – drive and determination. It was an horrific, shocking first-half performance – the second was only poor. No one challenged for anything. It doesn't happen to top clubs.''

He went on: "We got beaten by a side who deserved more. We ought to be in the bottom three with that performance. Sometimes you have to feel as low as I do now to get through to the players."

If, in the Premiership at least, Southampton's gifts do not usually include consistently finding the net, they located it amazingly quickly yesterday. The match was a mere 45 seconds old when Rory Delap fed an overlapping Wayne Bridge. He made ground on the left before placing his centre perfectly for Ormerod, who had scored three against Tranmere Rovers in a Worthington Cup match in midweek, to head past a helpless Schmeichel.

The pattern was set for a Southampton display that Gordon Strachan said at last saw them take positive action in front of goal at a higher level. "We knew we worked harder than any of our opponents but in the League we had been playing well only up to the final 20 yards."

The goal stunned City. For several minutes they recoiled as Saints swept in with waves of attacks that also saw Fabrice Fernandes shave the foot of a post with Schmeichel again bursting with annoyance at his troubled defence.

None of this suggested that Strachan had much cause to spend one of his recent free evenings trawling local clubs and bars following up rumours that his players were "not looking after themselves like professionals''. Indeed, City were being remorselessly outrun and out-attacked. Schmeichel had cause to be offended. He had to parry a drive by Bridge that should never have reached him.

Schmeichel became City's only saviour from ever-increasing danger. Delap's powerful running and good centres confused everyone else. Another of his penetrating crosses again found Ormerod, whose header Schmeichel had to tip away for a corner. And a tingling shot from the same player forced him into a late, splendid diving save.

Schmeichel had reason to question why City left it until they were in deep trouble before settling for a four-man defence. Even when, belatedly, Keegan chose to do so, the frailty remained. After 42 minutes Bridge put the ball into the City penalty area. Ormerod blasted it at Schmeichel who elected to push it out. Ormerod hammered the rebound back past the beleaguered but hardly blameworthy Schmeichel.

City were relieved to see that the dangerous Ormerod had to give up the match with a thigh injury early in the second half, but to find that he was being replaced by Marian Pahars was less than encouraging. Pahars was returning after injury and illness but, beyond doubt, when he is playing at his best he brings the originality that an otherwise plain team lacks.

Admittedly City's attitude to the second half began more determinedly than in the whole of the first, but now they had to be wary of Pahars's breakaways. Sure enough, when James Beattie slipped a raking pass across to him he raced through and his chip shot was stopped by Schmeichel's considerable full reach.

Just after the hour the match should have been gift-wrapped for Saints. Pahars again was free on the right and crossed, ground level. Beattie was a yard off the goal line yet somehow missed the ball.

One wondered whether, even if Southampton had played the whole of the second half with 10 men rather than the last five minutes after Pahars was dismissed for feigning a trip in the penalty area, they would have done any worse than come through as winners in comfort.

Southampton 2 Manchester City 0
Ormerod 1, 43

Half-time: 2-0 Attendance: 31,009