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Southampton recorded a massive win in their battle for Premier League survival as they beat Leicester City 2-1 at the King Power Stadium to move out of the relegation zone, but it wasn’t good news for everyone.
As manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has tended to do in the Premier League in recent weeks, youngster Yan Valery was given the nod over the more experienced Cedric Soares in the right wing-back role, where he was tasked with dealing with the likes of Marc Albrighton and Ben Chilwell.
It has been something of an up-and-down introduction to first-team football at St Mary’s for the 19-year-old, who has impressed in some matches but disappointed in others – the defeat to Cardiff City in Wales in particular springs to mind when he was hauled off at half-time, while he also struggled against Felipe Anderson in the home loss to West Ham United.
Those occasions probably should have acted as warning signs to Hasenhuttl but given the Frenchman also excelled against Arsenal and Chelsea, it was no surprise to see the Austrian give him the nod in the east Midlands.
It was a decision that nearly proved costly for the visitors as the teenager followed up a booking following a poor tackle on and altercation with Chilwell in the 34th minute by showing his inexperience 10 minutes later by taking down Albrighton and receiving his second yellow card as a result.
A game that the south coast outfit had been in full control swung against them as a result, and Valery was fortunate that Shane Long found the net after his dismissal and before the half-time whistle, to give Saints a two-goal advantage.
During his time on the pitch the 19-year-old registered three fouls and a passing accuracy of just over 58%, but he did also show his defensive nous by making four interceptions, as per WhoScored.
It has been clear to many that Valery perhaps isn’t ready to be a regular first-team player for Southampton just yet, and given Hasenhuttl has Cedric available to him to play in the right-back or right wing-back role he needs to make the Portugal international his first-choice option in the upcoming Premier League fixtures.
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