Southampton Under-23s may have gone toe to toe with two-time champions Porto in the Premier League International Cup, but Marcus Barnes still felt there was room for improvement in the young Saints’ performance.
The winger pounced to open the scoring from close range early in the second half at Staplewood, before a controversial penalty was awarded in favour of the visitors.
That was how it stayed, leaving Barnes reflecting on a job well done against the holders, but also having learned lessons from a polished Portuguese outfit.
“We feel like we could’ve done more, but we’re happy with the point – it takes us to four points and puts us in a good position to qualify for the next round," he said.
“Overall, I thought it was a good game between two good sides. It could’ve gone either way, but I thought we were the better team.
“Football is a universal language. Everyone wants to play and everyone wants to show off their talents and abilities.
“They were very accomplished and very technical, but they weren’t very physical and we pressed them well when we could.
“What they did with the ball was not allow us to do that all the time, so in that aspect it was different to how it happens in England.”
On his goal, Barnes added: “It’s just instinct really. When the ball goes on the other side, we’ve got two accomplished crossers in Jake (Vokins) and Tyreke (Johnson), so I just know I’ve got to get in there.
“It (the penalty) was given and we can’t do anything about it. We tried to push on from there, but it’s difficult to get going again in the game because they had the momentum.”
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