FA Cup: Southampton 4 Walsall 0 - Report
Walsall have been knocked out of the FA Cup as Southampton ran out comfortable 4-0 winners at St Mary's in the third round.
Ryan Fraser scored the first of his double in the sixth minute, and Mara doubled Saints advantage on the hour just moments after Jack Earing missed a gilt-edged chance.
Fraser bagged his second 21 minutes from time, and second half substitute Che Adams wrapped up the win with a fourth.
Saints took an early lead on six minutes when Fraser cushioned down a floated ball to squeeze behind the Walsall defence and dispatched an unerring finish into the bottom corner.
The Championship side dominated possession and forced Walsall deep into their own half. The Saddlers needed to soak up the early pressure as Sekou Mara climbed to head Jayden Meghoma's clipped cross over the crossbar.
Mara had a gilt-edged chance to double Southampton's lead midway into the first half, but could only stab over under pressure from point-blank range, after Fraser's initial effort was blocked.
Walsall, roared on by over 2,200 supporters in the away end, grew into the contest, and began to venture more frequently into the final third.
Douglas James-Taylor was penalised for a soft foul after his attempt was foiled by Joe Lumley from close quarters, whilst Tom Knowles cut inside and drilled a low effort wide of the near post.
Isaac Hutchinson glided into a promising position in the final third, but fired straight down the throat of Lumley, despite James-Taylor peeling away to his left.
Walsall kept a solid shape and remained disciplined out of possession. However, there was nervy moment late in the half, when Jackson Smith spilled Carlos Alcaraz's effort and reacted quickly to claw the ball to safety, just as Mara looked poised to reach the rebound.
Jack Earing had a golden opportunity just after the break when he found himself one-on-one with Lumley, but he could only slot his finish wide of the target.
Southampton established a two-goal cushion just before the hour-mark. Alcaraz released Fraser down the left, and Mara needed to adjust his feet to cast his low cross under his spell, before firing past Smith.
That goal knocked the stuffing out of Walsall, and Will Smallbone almost added a third less than 60 seconds later when he side-footed wide following a low ball from the left.
Saints did extend their advantage in the 69th minute when Fraser bagged his brace with a tidy low finish into the far bottom corner to kill the contest.
Adams marked his appearance from the bench with the fourth. Alcaraz provided the assist, and Adams applied a composed finish, despite Liam Gordon's best efforts to clear on the line.
The Walsall fans stayed until the very end to applaud the players, but it just simply wasn't to be for the Saddlers.
Teams
Walsall (3-1-4-2): Smith; Okagbue, Farquharson, Daniels (Adegboyega 76); Comley; Knowles, Hutchinson, Earing (Allen 76), Gordon; Johnson (Foulkes 87), James-Taylor.
Subs: Evans, Menayese, Wragg.
Southampton (4-3-3): Lumley; Holgate, Stephens, Harwood-Bellis (Adams 66), Meghoma; Smallbone, Charles, Alcaraz; Amo-Ameyaw (Bragg 84), Mara (Dibling 76), Fraser.
Subs: McCarthy, Manning, Downes, A Armstrong, S Armstrong, Dibling, Bednarek.
Referee: David Webb
Attendance: 22,627 (2,207)
