By Reece Barrett
Newly appointed Adam Asghar was “devastated” to concede a last minute winner in his first game as Southampton U21s manager, as his side lost 4-3 to Lyon U21s in the Premier League International Cup.
The French giants took a 3-0 lead but Southampton managed to equalise through Tyler Dibling’s second goal of the game in the 80th minute.
A stubborn Saints side did not survive though as Lyon substitute Djibrail Dib sparked celebrations in the 93rd minute – the away team’s bench stormed the pitch to bundle onto the match winner.
Speaking to Solent Sports News after the fixture, Asghar admitted that the last goal was disheartening,.
Ashgar said: “I’m absolutely devastated for the boys to lose in the last minute.
“If any team was going to win it based on chances created, I thought it was going to be us. (I was) really impressed by the second half performance, the mentality, the character. I learnt a lot in the second half, and selfishly, playing against one of Europe’s elite under the floodlights was probably the best environment for me to start learning about the players.“
While Southampton U21s play in the Premier League 2 – an academy-only league – Lyon play in the actual French pyramid.
They compete in the Championnat National 3, the fifth tier of French football, and they are therefore suited to a senior style of football which the Saints U21s rarely play.
Ashgar acknowledged the contrast in style for this match, but felt that his team dealt with the additional physicality well.
Ashgar; “Coming into the job I was watching a lot of Premier League 2 games so tonight was totally different.
“They started off with a low block in a 4-4-2 and most Premier League 2 teams would press you.
“We didn’t stretch them wide enough in the first half, we were a lot better in the second half to be patient and disciplined to give our two eights more space.
“We scored three quality goals, a little disappointed that it took so long to score but overall quite pleased.”
Listen to Solent Sports News’ full interview with Adam Ashgar below:
