T
he television screen
in the Brighton press
conference theatre
was tuned to Anfield,
where Sadio Mane
was tormenting
Arsenal’s defence. Down on the
stage, Southampton manager
Ralph Hasenhuttl was lauding the
man who might just finally fill the
double-digit scoring gap left by
Mane’s departure to Liverpool
three years ago.
The summer arrival of Malian
winger Moussa Djenepo may not
have created much of a stir beyond
Hampshire, but the former
Standard Liege flier could emerge
as one of the Premier League’s
more significant new faces and the
answer to the prayers of the St
Mary’s faithful.
Djenepo had been on the Amex
Stadium pitch for just 78 seconds,
after being introduced as a
53rd-minute substitute, when he
ended an electrifying surge with
a beautifully curved finish to set
Southampton on the path to a
2-0 victory.
It broke the stalemate in a tight,
tense south-coast derby in which
Brighton, reduced to 10 men
following the dismissal of Florin
Andone after half an hour, posed
plenty of problems throughout for
a Southampton side searching for
their first points of the season.
Replacing a striker of Mane’s
quality is certainly a tall order –even for a talent factory such as
Southampton – but his £34 million
move to Merseyside in 2016 left a
hole that has never been
adequately filled. Since then, no
Southampton striker has got into
double figures for a season and
goalscoring has become a chronic
problem for successive managers.
The latest candidate appears to
have many of the qualities required
since arriving in a £14 million deal
in the summer.
Djenepo, 21, who represented
Mali at this summer’s Africa Cup of
Nations, caught the eye in a cameo
performance in his debut against
Liverpool seven days earlier. That
set the stage for a show-stealing
display at the Amex where he again
came off the substitutes’ bench,
this time to devastating effect.
Hasenhuttl said: “In the winter
we wanted to sign Moussa, but it
was not possible. We stayed
working on this transfer and it’s
important that the player sees we
really want to have him and the
philosophy we want to play.
“I think it fits good to him
because we try to transition quick
and that is one of his biggestqualities and one of the reasons
why he decided to come to us.”
Hasenhuttl joked as he recalled
Djenepo’s initiation song in the
team hotel before Saturday’s
match. “His scoring is better than
his singing,” he said, but it shows
how quickly the newcomer has
settled into life at the club.
Nathan Redmond, who
confirmed Southampton’s win with
a close-range goal late on, said: “I
think everyone can see around the
training ground how much of a fun
and bubbly character he is.
“He’s still only young, but with
glimpses of ability like that I think
the fans should be excited for some
of the forward play we’ve got going
for us this year.”
And so to the inevitable Mane
comparisons. “I’ll let you do those
comparisons – you seem to love
those, but I’m happy with what he
brings to our team,” Southampton’s
Jannik Vestergaard said. “If he can
come in and be anywhere close to
Sadio Mane that’s the one for us.”
Brighton suffered their first
defeat of the season in a game that
could have yielded some reward
despite Andone’s red card for a
rash studs-up challenge on Yan
Valery.
Indeed, had substitute Jurgen
Locadia found the back of the net
instead of clipping a post in the
87th minute, few would have
begrudged Brighton’s battlers a
deserved point.
Graham Potter, the Brighton
manager, said: “We were brave
with the ball and took on a good
team.
“It was an even game in
terms of opportunities, but it’s
obviously difficult when you go
down to 10 men.”Maddison ready for international stage
By Arindam Rej
at Bramall LaneJames Maddison admits he has
always “liked being on stage” and
his display against Sheffield United,
in front of Gareth Southgate, indi-
cated that he is raring to be called
up by England.
Maddison is one of a group of
young, potential England players
who played for Leicester at Bramall
Lane – including Harvey Barnes
and Hamza Choudhury – with all of
them having appeared in this sum-
mer’s character-building European
Under-21 Championship.
England’s first team Euro qualifi-
ers against Bulgaria and Kosovo
early next month could provide an
opportunity for Southgate to recall
Maddison, who has previously
been in the squad without playing.
The 22-year-old midfielder
showed, with a man-of-the-match
performance in the 2-1 win at Shef-
field United, why he is being talked
about as a potential Manchester
United signing. Asked if he would
be disappointed not to be named in
the England squad this week, hisanswer was “no comment”, but this
is a young man who often comes
across as brimming with confi-
dence. The heavily tattooed left
arm and carefully gelled hair are
not his only eye-catching aspects,
as he backs up his swagger with
style on the pitch. That was evident
even in his days at Norwich, whom
he left last year to join Leicester. Hispass for their first goal, scored by
Jamie Vardy, was a moment of ex-
ceptional vision and skill, as he
threaded the ball forward from the
centre circle into the penalty area
with the outside of his right boot.
Barnes later wrote his name into
the Sunday headlines with his stun-
ning winner. The power of the
strike, and the technique to execute
it, made it impressive – and there
was a “wow” factor when witness-
ing the speed with which the ballwent from his boot into the net.
Asked if he had ever scored a better
goal, Barnes replied: “Probably not,
no – not even when I was a kid.
I knew I had caught it so sweet and
it would take an absolutely unbe-
lievable save to keep it out.”
Maddison and Barnes were in the
limelight for their roles in the goals,
but Choudhury was an impressive
presence behind them. Manager
Brendan Rodgers valued the con-
tribution, saying: “It was tough for
him because getting sent off for
your country [he was dismissed at
the European Under-21 Champion-
ship] is never easy. But he’s an hon-
est boy and he has responded to
that. I like his ability to press the
game and play an aggressive game.
He is one of the best in terms of get-
ting up to the ball and winning it
back. We are just trying to help him
understand the game.”
Rodgers built his managerial
career after earning a reputation as
a fine developer of young talent,
notably at Chelsea’s academy. If he
redeploys those skills effectively at
Leicester, Southgate could have
reason to thank him in the future –
perhaps, even, imminently.Malian striker looks
capable of ending the
long search for a goal-
scorer, says Ben Findon
Djenepo can fill gap left
by Mane at Southampton
2015-16
Sadio Mane15
2016-17
Charlie
Austin9
2017-18
Charlie Austin/
Dejan Tadic7
2018-19 Nathan
Redmond9
Southampton leading
goalscorers since 2015-16
Full of confidence:
James Maddison
produced a
man-of-the match
show for Leicesterpset of the season so far
De Gea 28
Wan-Bissaka 21
Lindelof 25
Maguire 26
Shaw 24
Pogba 26
McTominay 22
James 21
Lingard 26
Rashford 21
Martial 23Guaita 32
Ward 29
Kelly 29
Cahill 33
Van Aanholt 28
Zaha 26
McArthur 31
Milivojevic 28
Kouyate 29
Schlupp 26
J Ayew 27Palace striker Jordan Ayew was crucial to
the surprise win. Recalled to the starting
line-up, the Ghanaian's touch map
illustrates how he served as an effective
outlet up front and helped out in defence.Ayew seizes chance
3
The average age of a player in Palace's
starting line-up was five years older than
United's, and the experience-gap showed.
Palace were more clinical, patient and
played on the edge of the rules, breaking up
play and getting away with crucial, tough
challenges.Streetwise nous
4
Ayew’s touches
Direction of play23 .9 yrs 28.9 yrs
Average age Average age
Man United Crystal Palace
Starting XI Age Starting XI Age
The Daily Telegraph Monday 26 August 2019 *** 15
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