Sourced from Daily Echo article
THE VERDICT: A missed chance to prove a big point for Saints
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THIS was a chance to prove a point to the St Mary’s faithful.
But it ended being a familiar tale of missed chances, flashes of good play and a reminder of where Saints would be without Manolo Gabbiadini.
One of the most telling statistics to hone in on after Saints’ goalless draw against neighbours AFC Bournemouth is one relating to their form in front of goal at St Mary’s this term in the Premier League.
Middlesbrough are the only team to score fewer goals (12) at home than Saints (14).
Charlie Austin remains the top-scorer at home in the league with four goals, despite being absent for nearly three months.
But there was hope that after eight weeks away from St Mary’s, in which Saints had scored 11 goals in just four games, they would return to the south coast ready to show off their new-found bang in front of goal – especially when faced with the third worst defence in the league in the Cherries.
There had been evidence during this recent run of games that Saints had turned a corner this season now.
They were exciting going forward – if not slightly shaky at the back – in the reinstated 4-2-3-1 formation and they’d bought a superb goal-scorer in Gabbiadini.
There was a sneak preview in their last home game prior to the Cherries draw, the disappointing 3-1 defeat to West Ham at the start of February, that Gabbiadini was the missing link between success and failure in Saints’ topsy-turvy season.
He scored a cracking goal to open the scoring that day, before the Hammers came back to win.
In their absence from St Mary’s, Gabbiadini proved that he was a player who added that killer touch.
With the 25-year-old leading the charge, Saints recorded back-to-back league away triumphs – in both of which they scored four goals.
It seemed things were gaining some thrust.
Defeats were also in the mix in the EFL Cup final to Manchester United and Tottenham, but Claude Puel’s men were showing good signs, with their new £14.6m striker netting six goals.
Saints then finally headed home on Saturday eager to show the home faithful that they were ready to build momentum in the run-in until the end of the season.
With six home games left to pack in until the end of May, Saints’ season will be defined by their form at St Mary’s, so it was a chance to kick that off in style.
Last term’s sixth placed finished was very much built on the form at St Mary’s, with Saints recording 11 wins and scoring the second most in the division at home (47) along the way.
Only champions Leicester, Arsenal, Manchester United and Manchester City won more on home turf last term in the top-flight.
So the Cherries game was a chance to push on.
Except, with Gabbiadini out with a groin problem, the same old problems that cursed Saints earlier in the campaign reared their ugly heads once more.
There were the familiar sights.
Head in hands as the ball whistled narrowly wide. Tick.
Jay Rodriguez looked sharp and energetic upfront, but was often caught offside.
The five-goal striker, who came into the side in Gabbiadni’s absence to make his first start in eight weeks, powered a tasty shot on the volley at Artur Boruc’s goal in the first-half, which was saved well by the former Saints shot stopper.
The 27-year-old even had the ball in the net, but was flagged for offside after he’d been played in by Ryan Bertrand on the left.
There were also glimmers from new England cap Nathan Redmond, who produced an array of exciting runs and shots.
Dusan Tadic was also in on the act, clipping the outside of the left post from 15 yards after being played in by Cedric Soares.
Maya Yoshida also flicked a header just wide of the far post from a corner just before half time.
Yet Saints were ultimately frustrated in front of goal.
Second half substitute Shane Long also added his own near miss.
The Republic of Ireland international was industrious and a nuisance, as usual, but couldn’t find the finishing touch when he was slotted through on the right by Tadic, dinking an effort narrowly wide of the left post.
The influence of Gabbiadini will be telling in the long run, but it was unfortunate in many ways that on their return to St Mary’s they couldn’t show that they’d solved this problem of creating but not scoring.
As it was, Saints will feel lucky to even come away with a point from the Cherries match.
Captain Steven Davis had to make a goal-line clearance on 33 minutes from a Bournemouth corner as ex-Saints man Andrew Surman tried to poke home.
The Cherries then came out after the break with more desire and drive than their south coast neighbours.
Benik Afobe will be having nightmares over his miss just past the hour mark, when he was played in by Josh King in acres of space in the box, only to fire wide of the post.
Ten minutes after that Cherries came knocking again, going closer as Adam Smith hit the post square on with a low drive from the edge of the box.
Cherries’ best chance came after Ryan Bertrand was adjudged to have fouled Ryan Fraser in the box.
Harry Arter admitted that he was already celebrating in his head when stepped up to fire the resulting penalty kick well over Fraser Forster’s goal on 78 minutes.
In all Bournemouth were likely the worthy winners after their second-half showing, but Saints somehow managed to claim a point.
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“We want to get points and create a gap between ourselves and the teams underneath us.” 
