Fans react to Joe Aribo's Southampton friendly debut against RB Leipzig

Published: July 16, 2022

Joe Aribo made his friendly debut for Southampton as they were beaten 3-1 by RB Leipzig in a 105-minute pre-season friendly held at Lavanttal-Arena on Saturday afternoon.

The Nigeria international completed his move to the Saints last weekend and was recently handed the club's number 7 jersey ahead of the forthcoming season.

Ademola Lookman was not involved for the German Bundesliga side amid fresh speculation surrounding his future.

In his first game for Southampton, Aribo was deployed on the right of a front three, with former Arsenal schoolboy of Nigerian descent Nathan Tella leading the attack.

The ex-Rangers star was on the pitch for one hour and the highlight of his first half display was his link-up play with Kyle Walker-Peters, which opened up space for Diallo to hit a shot that narrowly missed the target.

Angeliño, with a brilliant free-kick, broke the deadlock nine minutes into the second half but Adam Armstrong equalized for the Premier League club in the 65th minute.

Emil Forsberg restored Leipzig's lead in the 67th minute before Ilaix Moriba's long range effort sealed the win at minute 90.

Some fans to Twitter to react to the performance of Aribo and here's what they are saying below :

I thought aribo was quite whereas moi linked up better with djenepo. Idk if my expectations were to high for him but seems quiet
— ASaintsOpinion (@ASaintsOpinion) July 16, 2022

Decent run out, like the look of Bazunu, ABK and Lavia. Aribo didn't get much service in what was a defensive line up in first half. Better balance 2nd half with 2 strikers - two superb balls in from Smallbone, nice goal from Arma, Clearly need more up front though. #SaintsFC
— Glen de la Cour (leagueoneminus10) (@L1minus10) July 16, 2022

If your going to say diallo was average let’s call a spade and spade and say so was Aribo
— The Saints Chat (@TheSaintsCha) July 16, 2022

Aribo will need time to get used to our style, one of the biggest things for him is to stay alert when we don't have possession. I'd imagine rangers had plenty more possession then what we do, if he manages it he'll be a top player. #saintsfc
— Andrew (@andrew2021k) July 16, 2022

Lavia and Bazunu both look really good
Not seen much of Aribo and ABK yet#SaintsFC
— Will 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (@Sfcwill_2) July 16, 2022

15 minutes gone so far and it's not looking too bad for #SaintsFC. KWP/Aribo with some neat play on the right with the latter finding some space and leading the press nicely so far just behind Tella. Lavia in midfield looking tidy too.https://t.co/ryAiDPKpBc
— Mark Wyatt (@markgwyatt) July 16, 2022

Really enjoyed seeing Gavin Bazunu, Armel Bella-Kotchap (who may be more comfortable in a back three early on) Romeo Lavia & Joe Aribo. All did well.

A big opportunity for Thierry Small and Yan Valery this pre-season too. #SaintsFC https://t.co/ZbkEZVtdsD
— Jacob Tanswell (@J_Tanswell) July 16, 2022

Ifeanyi Emmanuel

Photo Credit : southamptonfc.com

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