Gabbiadini quick to make his mark at Southampton
Manolo Gabbiadini has been quick to make his mark at Southampton since sealing a move to St. Mary's for around £14 million from Napoli in the January transfer window.
The 25-year-old has sparked life into Claude Puel's Saints with a phenomenal return of five goals in his first three games for the club, finding the back of the net in each of his appearances so far.
Starting with a debut strike against West Ham, Gabbiadini continued to show his eye for goal away at Sunderland by finding the back of the net twice more.
Last weekend Southampton cruelly lost out to Manchester United in the EFL Cup Final at Wembley.
Saints were looking to win their first major trophy since 1976, but despite putting in a performance to be proud of, it was Jose Mourinho's United celebrating and lifting the trophy at the final whistle.
Southampton's star man was undoubtedly Gabbiadini in the 3-2 defeat. The big occasion calls for the big players to stand up and be counted and this is precisely what Gabbiadini did for the Saints and two-goal Zlatan Ibrahimovic did for United.
Having a 'goal' ruled out for a poor offside decision, a goal which would have put Southampton in front and may have changed the complexion of the game, Gabbiadini kept getting in the right positions and scored twice more.
After Ibrahimovic's free kick had the beating of Fraser Forster in the Saints goal to open the scoring, Jesse Lingard then doubled the lead against the run of play for Man United as Southampton continued to threaten.
Gabbiadini's fantastic movement in the penalty area helped him to get on the end of a James Ward-Prowse cross to prod the ball through the legs of David De Gea to give Saints a way back in to the game just before half time.
The second half started in perfect fashion for the Saints too as Gabbiadini levelled the game at 2-2 with a stunning goal. It is surely the best of his five Southampton goals to date. The way he spun his marker in the box and despatched the ball in to the corner of the net on the turn so quickly to leave a world class keeper standing was incredible. The technique and quality was simply sublime.
The 25-year-old has sparked life into Claude Puel's Saints with a phenomenal return of five goals in his first three games for the club, finding the back of the net in each of his appearances so far.
Starting with a debut strike against West Ham, Gabbiadini continued to show his eye for goal away at Sunderland by finding the back of the net twice more.
Last weekend Southampton cruelly lost out to Manchester United in the EFL Cup Final at Wembley.
Saints were looking to win their first major trophy since 1976, but despite putting in a performance to be proud of, it was Jose Mourinho's United celebrating and lifting the trophy at the final whistle.
Southampton's star man was undoubtedly Gabbiadini in the 3-2 defeat. The big occasion calls for the big players to stand up and be counted and this is precisely what Gabbiadini did for the Saints and two-goal Zlatan Ibrahimovic did for United.
Having a 'goal' ruled out for a poor offside decision, a goal which would have put Southampton in front and may have changed the complexion of the game, Gabbiadini kept getting in the right positions and scored twice more.
After Ibrahimovic's free kick had the beating of Fraser Forster in the Saints goal to open the scoring, Jesse Lingard then doubled the lead against the run of play for Man United as Southampton continued to threaten.
Gabbiadini's fantastic movement in the penalty area helped him to get on the end of a James Ward-Prowse cross to prod the ball through the legs of David De Gea to give Saints a way back in to the game just before half time.
The second half started in perfect fashion for the Saints too as Gabbiadini levelled the game at 2-2 with a stunning goal. It is surely the best of his five Southampton goals to date. The way he spun his marker in the box and despatched the ball in to the corner of the net on the turn so quickly to leave a world class keeper standing was incredible. The technique and quality was simply sublime.
Ibrahimovic, (who has been in fine form himself for United all season, despite people claiming he was too old and wouldn't be able to do what he has always done throughout his career - score goals and win trophies - before he made his move to England), popped up with the winning goal to break the hearts of Southampton players and fans in the closing stages of the game.
I, like many other Southampton supporters, felt immensely proud of the way the players performed so admirably and felt we at least deserved to take the game to extra time.
For Gabbiadini, he has made such an incredible start to his time at Southampton. It's clearly unrealistic and unfair to expect him to be able to keep this ratio of goals to games up, but from what I've seen of his performances so far, there is no reason why he can't go on to be a long-term success with the club.
Southampton have been desperately short of goals this season, especially since losing Charlie Austin to injury, and it looks as though they have found a perfect solution in the form of Manolo Gabbiadini.
Jamie Montigue
Jamie Montigue
What a start it's been! 💥— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) March 1, 2017
Relive all of @Mgabbia23's goals from a spectacular first month at #SaintsFC: https://t.co/FANStdjUVj
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