Taylor Harwood-Bellis
Saints seemed poised for their first Premier League win under Russell Martin when they were leading 2-0 at the hour mark. However, their performance unraveled in the final 35 minutes. Facundo Buonanotte began the comeback by scoring one for Leicester, and Jamie Vardy equalized with a penalty past Aaron Ramsdale following Ryan Fraser’s dismissal. Harwood-Bellis identified Abdul Fatawu’s introduction as the game’s turning point. Fatawu, who had previously scored a hat-trick against Saints, was instrumental in Leicester’s resurgence: assisting the first goal, contributing to the second, and winning the corner leading to the third.
Harwood-Bellis expressed his frustration over the team’s inability to handle the Ghanaian winger. The Saints defense struggled to maintain order, resulting in three goals conceded in the second half. Reflecting on the match.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis said: “I can’t really sum up how I’m feeling. It hurts. In the first 15 minutes of the second half, we were still good. Conceding three goals in the second half can’t happen. Blaming anyone else is not on the front of my mind. We don’t deal with him well enough and we get punished. I felt we came out in the second half with the same mentality (as the first). They score and then their tails are up. We were defending well but it shouldn’t get to that point. It can’t get to us having 10 men and our backs against the wall. I’m struggling to figure out how it can end like that. The set-piece at the end, the organisation is not right. People aren’t in positions and we get punished.”
Saints now face a formidable challenge this weekend as they prepare to travel to face reigning Premier League champions Manchester City. On Sunday, Pep Guardiola’s team secured a narrow 2-1 victory over Wolves, a result which prevented Saints from slipping to the bottom of the table. Saturday’s match will be significant for Harwood-Bellis, as it marks his first encounter against his boyhood club, having joined the City academy at the age of six.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis concluded: “We have got to roll our sleeves up. It will hurt for the next couple of days but we have a big game next. It’s one of the hardest games of the season, away at City. We will prepare for that. We have got to keep going. There are games and points to play for.”
