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Sikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
HWANGE born former Bantu Rovers midfielder Marvelous Nakamba had a dream but disastrous Europa League debut as his Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem was clobbered 3-0 by English Premiership outfit Southampton in the first leg of the third qualifying round tie on Thursday night.

Nakamba, who started his football at Bulawayo giants Highlanders’ juniors before moving to Bantu Rovers, played the full 90 minutes as his Eredivisie club battled to stop a rampant new look Southampton at St Mary’s.

The British press judged the 21-year-old Nakamba Vitesse’s star man for the night by giving him seven out of 10 for his performance.

In fact, Nakamba’s performance was ranked at par with Southampton’s two best players on the night, Dusan Tadic and Graziano Pelle.

Vitesse are hardly a household name, but since English Premiership title holders Chelsea established links with them in 2010, the Dutch club has been brought into the spotlight.

A host of Chelsea players have moved on loan to Vitesse for a taste of regular first team football and youngsters Lewis Baker and Isaiah Brown are the latest Blues players to make a switch to the Dutch club.

On Thursday night, Baker and Brown were side-by-side in central midfield with Nakamba, but they were no match for the hosts, who scored through Pelle, Tadic and substitute Shane Long.

Although Southampton seem to have secured the tie, their coach Ronald Koeman has warned his players that it was still game on and they could only progress to the next round after the final whistle back in his homeland.

“It’s never over in football, but the final score tonight is a very good one for us. I wasn’t happy with the second half. We were a bit lucky to get a third goal with a mistake from Vitesse late on. We had a difficult start and took time to settle into the game, but we controlled the game well after that,” Koeman told the BBC after the match.