Eckert praises second-half showing
Tonda Eckert was pleased with the way his Southampton side overcame challenges in the first half to put QPR to the sword in a ruthless second period at St Mary’s.
Saints held a 1-0 lead at the interval thanks to Kuryu Matsuki’s early opener, but the visitors had chances of their own in a game that was still very much in the balance at the break.
The hosts felt they should have had a second shortly before half time, only for Lewis Dobbin’s header to be ruled out for a controversial offside decision against Jack Stephens, who did not touch the ball.
But Eckert felt his players channelled that sense of wrongdoing in the right way, as second-half goals from Cameron Bragg, Keven Schlotterbeck and Welington completed another comprehensive home win.
“It’s never an easy game to play. I think QPR prepares very well for what they come up against – they always give you some challenges, especially in the way they attack,” the head coach said.
“We knew this, we knew it was going to be tough today to find answers to everything they do, but we had a good start into the game and obviously a big decision towards the end of the first half, when we were done celebrating to see the goal has not been given.
“Then you need to regulate your emotions because you can imagine players coming in [angry at half time] but you need to move on. We had some adjustments at half time in the way we pressed and I think we played a very good second half. It was not an easy game, but I’m happy with the performance.”
Saints have now scored seven goals in their last two games scored by six different players, much to the satisfaction of the boss, who was pleased to see Schlotterbeck score from a corner after Dobbin’s earlier goal came from the same source.
“Last season we had so many contributions from the backline, and we’ve talked a little bit about goal contributions from our 6s, so I’m very happy for that,” he added.
“We worked on set-pieces quite a lot this week because it’s something that we haven’t really had so often this season – to unlock a game on a set-piece.
“I think it was important for us to score or two, and to make sure that we become a threat again on the offensive ones. I think there are a lot of positives to take from the game, and then we put this one to bed, recover tomorrow and then it’s two important ones on the road.”
