FA Cup Third Round: Southampton 4-3 Burnley

Southampton were given a real scare at a sodden St Mary’s, on a day of boyhood dreams being made and broken in The FA Cup.

Given the number of links between the two teams' strikeforces and their respective towns, it was always a likely occurrence with Burnley-born Jay Rodriguez making an impact from the bench for the hosts, and boyhood Saints fans Danny Ings and Sam Vokes spearheading Burnley’s attack.

And all three of those players got on the scoresheet, in what proved to be a thrilling tie for both sets of fans with their teams scoring two goals each in separate six-minute spells to leave the score at 2-2 with 30 minutes to play.

But Southampton restored order through super subs Rodriguez and Adam Lallana to take their place in the Fourth Round draw.

Championship high-fliers Burnley had started the game brightly and came within a whisker of taking the lead in the first minute when Scott Arfield’s curling shot from the left had Kelvin Davis beaten, only to flash narrowly wide of the far post.

Ings and Vokes were also looking lively for the visitors and a neat move saw Ings force Davis into the first save of the game, with a firm header from Kieran Trippier’s cross.

But Southampton weathered the early storm and took a firm grip of the game with quickfire two goals midway through the first half.

And it took a moment of real quality to open the scoring, as the ball was worked out to Nathaniel Clyne on the right. His first-touch saw the ball sit up nicely, but the following strike was even better, flying into the top corner from 25 yards and giving Clarets ‘keeper Tom Heaton no chance.

Gaston Ramirez pulls away from Burnley's David Jones.

A limping Rickie Lambert was then given too much time on the edge of the area in the 28th minute and he punished Burnley by curling a fine shot beyond Heaton and into the same corner that Clyne had picked out earlier. Moments later, he was replaced by Rodriguez, after picking up a knock.

The half-time scoreline was harsh on Sean Dyche’s side, but whatever he said at the break had the desired effect as his team surged back level with their own quick double.

A lifeline was quickly found within five minutes of the restart when Dean Marney’s centre was thumped home by the head of Vokes, cue a first muted celebration.

That gave Burnley the lift they needed and four minutes later, Trippier raced away on the right to pick out Ings, whose glancing header looped over Davis but landed on the roof of the goal.

The England Under-21 international didn’t have to wait much longer though, as he ran onto Kevin Long’s pass, in behind Luke Shaw and made no mistake by slotting past Davis from close range. Again, the Winchester-born striker kept his celebrations to a minimum.

Sam Vokes celebrates his goal at St Mary's.

Southampton were fortunate to stay level after that, as Ings’ lifted pass into the box was controlled by Vokes, only for his close-range shot to bring the best out of Davis with a stunning one-handed save. Maya Yoshida then had to hack clear off the line from Arfield’s follow-up.

But Saints restored their advantage against the run of play, when Heaton lost the ball in the area after a challenge with James Ward-Prowse. Both sets of teams seemed to stop in anticipation of a decision from the referee, but when the ball dropped at the feet of Rodriguez, he made no mistake by firing into an empty net before showing scant celebration against his hometown club.

Ings then saw his low shot ping back off the post as the Clarets chased another equaliser, but within seconds Southampton had restored their two goal advantage on the break.

The ball was worked quickly out to Lallana, on for the ineffective Gaston Ramirez, and he needed no invitation to shoot, firing a low left-footer past Heaton and into the bottom corner.

Nathaniel Clyne celebrates his opening goal.

But Burnley weren’t finished and Long made it an interesting final few minutes when he bundled the ball over the line from Junior Stanislas’ corner.

It proved to be too little, too late for the Clarets though as Mauricio Pochettino’s side held on and will now await Sunday’s draw after a confidence-boosting win.

Southampton
1 Kelvin Davies, 2 Nathaniel Clyne, 3 Maya Yoshida, 4 Morgan Schneiderlin, 7 Rickie Lambert (9 Jay Rodriguez, 36), 8 Steven Davis, 10 Gaston Ramirez (20 Adam Lallana, 59), 16 James Ward-Prowse, 18 Jack Cork, 23 Luke Shaw, 26 Jos Hooiveld (6 Jose Fonte, 79).
Substitutes not used: 25 Paulo Gazzaniga, 20 Adam Lallana, 22 Calum Chambers, 38 Harrison Reed, 40 Sam Gallagher.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino

Goals: Nathaniel Clyne (22), Rickie Lambert (28), Jay Rodriguez (66), Adam Lallana (73).

Burnley
1 Tom Heaton, 2 Kieran Trippier, 3 Danny Lafferty, 5 Jason Shackell, 8 Dean Marney, 9 Sam Vokes, 10 Danny Ings, 14 David Jones, 26 Keith Treacy n(11 Junior Stanislas, 64), 28 Kevin Long, 37 Scott Arfield.
Substitutes not used: 12 Alex Cisak, 15 David Edgar, 16 Luke O’Neill, 22 Brian Stock, 33 Steven Hewitt, 38 Cameron Dummigan.

Manager Sean Dyche

Goals: Sam Vokes (50), Danny Ings (56), Kevin Long (86).

Referee: R Madley
Assistant Referees: A Garratt & M Scholes
Fourth Official: J Linnington

Attendance 15,077