Southampton player ratings from 3-0 Blackburn Rovers win: Archer 9/10, Larin unlucky

Southampton player ratings from the 3-0 Blackburn Rovers win at St. Mary’s. Cameron Archer stood out with a 9/10 rating, Cyle Larin was unlucky.

Blackburn Rovers were the easiest opponent Southampton had to face during the Championship run-in. For that reason, Saints boss Tonda Eckert named a heavily rested side in midfield and attack. Finn Azaz was a real injury doubt, but pulling out Leo Scienza and Caspar Jander from the starting act was quite bold from Eckert.

Anyways, it paid off well. The Saints scored three goals without breaking much sweat at St. Mary’s. Infact, Southampton should have scored five given they never really let the Blackburn Rovers defence catch a break. Mainly, this win was down to Cameron Archer’s lively performance down the left hand side.

Shea Charles and Cyle Larin also stood out massively at the opposite end of the pitch. The latter grabbed the 1-0 opener, followed by well-taken finishes from Ryan Manning and Cameron Archer for the second and third goal. That said, let’s dive into the Southampton player ratings on a scale of 10 for every starter who played a part in the 3-0 Blackburn Rovers rout.

Southampton player ratings from 3-0 Blackburn Rovers win

GK: Daniel Peretz – 7

Supported well by the Southampton defence all night and wasn’t called for a serious save until late in the second half. Denied Yuki Ohashi’s powerful effort and later was fortunate to see the rebound come off the crossbar instead of going in.

LB: Ryan Manning – 6

Blackburn Rovers didn’t allow much room for crosses to Ryan Manning. Despite that, he reacted timely to tap in the second goal that fell to him amidst a crowd of players. Not an outstanding performance, but Manning deserves the goal as a reward for the form he is in.

CB: Taylor Harwood-Bellis – 8.5

Dominated his battle against Blackburn striker Jorgensen. Attempted a loose volley that went for a corner and displayed good versatility at right back. Perhaps, Tonda sees Harwood-Bellis as the best replacement plan should anything happen to Bree until the end of the season.

CB: Jack Stephens – 7

Tonda again surprised Southampton fans by not picking Nathan Wood to start. Jack Stephens was reliable on his part, as opposed to the Wrexham and Derby County games where he had 1-2 defensive lapses.

As for Wood, he denied a Rovers attack with a sliding tackle that saw Peretz praising him afterwards.

RB: James Bree – 7.5

Nearly grabbed an assist from a first half corner when Larin’s header was saved. Marked former Saint Nathan Redmond from breaking into the Southampton half and was granted a handy break with the match virtually won at 2-0.

CM: Shea Charles – 8.5

A typical Shea Charles performance. Glided with the ball at his feet in the midfield and created a flurry of scoring opportunities for the hosts. Made a clever run to attempt an assist on the second goal, but that eventually deflected along the way. Released Cameron Archer into space later, but again the final action couldn’t warrant a goal contribution on paper.

CAM: Kuryu Matsuki – 7.5

Matsuki had a busy night at St. Mary’s. Got a free chance served to him by Fellows but the Blackburn keeper saved his bottom-corner strike. Scanned the pitch before swiftly releasing the through ball to Archer on Cyle Larin’s goal.

The Canadian returned the favour to Matsuki with a golden chance in the second half, only for the 22-year-old to first slip and then miss from close range.

CM: Cam Bragg – 7.5

Cam Bragg got his first Championship appearance after four games and impressed. Intercepted two Blackburn Rovers passes inside the final third with one of them resulting in Ryan Manning’s second goal.

LW: Cameron Archer – 9

Adopted the Leo Scienza role way better than Saints fans expected at kick-off. Utilised his pace to create space away from the defender and laid a precise assist to Cyle Larin.

Took on 4 Blackburn players after dribbling inside the box but lost his balance while shooting. As fate had it, Leo Scienza left it later for Archer to bag the goal he worked so hard for 90 minutes.

ST: Cyle Larin – 8

Larin got an early goal in front of Blackburn Rovers but he was quite unlucky, to be honest. Shea Charles aimed to find him for a tap-in that ultimately came to Ryan Manning for the 2-0.

Moreover, Larin made a great run before turning around to find a free Matsuki coming in the box. Unluckily, he missed and that cost Larin a deserved assist.

RW: Tom Fellows – 6.5

Fellows didn’t obsess too much on beating his fullback unlike the Derby County game. He slid a free chance to Matsuki inside the box which was parried away. Fellows could have done more to get his first Southampton goal, considering he stayed for the whole game and the match was won within the first half itself.