A clinical Shane Long finish put Southampton ahead against Chelsea today

The Ireland striker capitalised on a poor header by Chelsea full-back Baba Rahman.

Updated at 16.31

SHANE LONG SCORED his 12th goal of the season in all competitions today to put Southampton 1-0 up against Chelsea today.

The Ireland striker capitalised on a poor header by Chelsea full-back Baba Rahman, racing clear on goal and chipping the ball over Thibaut Courtois.

Irish fans will be hoping Long can repeat the feat against Belgium first-choice goalkeeper Courtois at the Euros this summer.

2 - Southampton's Shane Long has scored in back to back PL games for first time since February 2014 (for Hull). Sharp.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) February 27, 2016

OptaJoe / Twitter

In less positive news from an Irish perspective, however, Long had to go off injured in the second half and was replaced by Graziano Pellè — another player that Ireland could potentially come up against in France this June.

Meanwhile, in Long’s absence, Chelsea produced a comeback, winning 2-1, as Cesc Fabregas’ cross fortuitously found the back of the net on 75 minutes, before Branislav Ivanovic headed home the winner late on.

‘The English don’t want to understand tactics,’ says former Ireland assistant boss Tardelli>

No revenge for Big Sam as West Ham edge past Sunderland>

Shane Long celebrates scoring against Chelsea. Paul Harding

In form

Author

Paul Fennessy

View 4 comments

Send Tip or Correction

4 Comments

Jem Mehmet 10y

Install the app to use these features.

Mute Jem Mehmet

Favourite Jem Mehmet

Nov 21st 2019, 7:34 AM

Great to see

Defamation

Damaging the good reputation of someone, slander, or libel.
Racism or Hate speech

An attack on an individual or group based on religion, race, gender, or beliefs.
Trolling or Off-topic

An attempt to derail the discussion.
Inappropriate language

Profanity, obscenity, vulgarity, or slurs.
Spam

Advertising, phishing, scamming, bots, or repetitive posts.
Other