Southampton man highlights Sunderland tactic and explains what Russell Martin said to him

Southampton midfielder Joe Rothwell highlighted Sunderland’s man-to-man marking approach after coming off the bench and scoring twice against the Black Cats.

The 29-year-old came off the bench in the 73rd minute at St Mary’s, after Sunderland had drawn level, and scored twice in a three-minute spell to give the hosts a 4-2 win. “I felt there were chances,” said Rothwell after the match. "They went man for man all over the pitch so I knew there would be space in behind their defence.

“If we could pick it up and pick the right pass there would be chances. The gaffer brought me on and told me to be free and try to get a goal. 

“Thankfully, two have fallen nicely for me today. I’m happy with the first one. My technique is something that I pride myself on. Striking the ball is something that I work hard on most days. I knew if I got my head over the ball and caught it sweet then it had a good chance of going in.”

Southampton appeared to be in control of the contest after taking a 2-0 lead before half-time, yet goals from Romaine Mundle and Jobe Bellingham drew Sunderland level.

“I think we were fully in control at 2-0 and there were two sucker punches there to get them back into the game,” added Rothwell. “The momentum was probably with them really. It just shows about the group we’ve got in the changing room. A bit of adversity, it happens. You come through that and thankfully we managed to get the positive result after them coming back into the game.”